


The Wings of Burden

by LittleBunny3593



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Butterfly!Marinette, Nooroo is free, but at what cost, poor Tikki
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-15
Updated: 2020-06-14
Packaged: 2020-06-29 09:10:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 18
Words: 74,057
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19826992
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LittleBunny3593/pseuds/LittleBunny3593
Summary: Marinette was expecting her school year to consist of escaping from Chloe's constant bullying. Instead she saves the hero Chat Noir from the super villain Coccinelle and is graced with the powers of a Butterfly to protect the people of Paris. As amazing as these powers may be, the stress amplifies and Marinette must adapt to her new life lest her new wings break under this heavy burden.





	1. Prologue: Liang Zhu

**Author's Note:**

> Miraculous Ladybug and the characters within this story are not my own creation

“Maman! Maman!” Marinette called out as she finished settling into bed, big bluebell eyes full of wonder as she wiggled excitedly.

“Yes?” Sabine said as she came up to her young daughter’s bed.

“Can you tell me the story of Liang Zhu?” 

“But you’ve already heard that one,” Sabine smiled as she brushed a lock of hair from her young daughter’s face. Marinette pouted as she looked at her mother pleadingly.

“Please?” she asked. 

“Of course,” Sabine kissed her daughter’s forehead and started, “Zhu Yingtai was the ninth child and only daughter of the Zhu family. She was expected to take a hand in marriage in her youth but she wanted to become a scholar, so she put on a disguise as a man and with her father’s approval headed off.” Marinette happily bundled under the blankets as she listened to the start of the story.

While Papa’s stories were always fun with dragons, magic, and adventure, Maman’s were about love and the beautiful tragedy that could arise from it. How love could be as strong as steel and then as frail as a butterfly’s wings.

Her favorite story she loved to hear was the Butterfly Lovers, or Liang Zhu. Two lovers that cared for one another yet couldn’t be with one another and in the end dying and becoming butterflies, fluttering off into the sky together forever. Marinette remembered first crying when she heard the story, but Maman had told her how in the end they were together even though it wasn’t the way you would expect. Butterflies represented life and immortality, Maman had told her, even if love did seem weak and fragile like a butterfly, it was everlasting.

Now whenever Maman told her the story, Marinette held these thoughts in her heart and hoped that she would find this love herself, decorating her room in butterflies and with the help of her parents planted a garden in hopes to lure some over as a sign of good luck. Butterflies became a symbol of comfort for Marinette.

If only she had known how important they would become for her later on.


	2. Coccinelle and Chat Noir

Marinette walked into school, hearing the excited chatter as many students greeted one another happily at the start of the new year. For Marinette though, she tried not to hold back yet another sigh as she headed to the locker rooms, miserably opening it up. She carefully put away her things and silently hoped she wouldn’t get stuck in the same class as Chloé. For years Chloé had tormented her and all of the other students in every class they had together, the reputation the blonde had was terrifying since no one could stop her from speed-dialing her dad, the mayor of Paris, with a tap of a finger and a smirk.

Marinette closed her locker with a deep breath and headed to class, repeating a pleading mantra in her head for Chloé to not appear. She walked into class and sat in her regular spot, smiling slightly when hearing Mlle. Bustier telling Nino to move to the very front rather than sitting in the back of the class. 

“Can’t I just sit with Marinette?” Nino asked, stopping next to his friend’s open seat.

“Knowing you two, you’ll be talking all throughout class which is just as bad as letting you sit in the back with your headphones on,” Mlle. Bustier scolded but her smile was gentle. 

Marinette couldn’t help but smile back sheepishly, guilty without even doing anything yet. Her and Nino had coincidentally became friends last year just as school was coming to a close when she had dropped one of her sketches in a rush to help her parents with a delivery. Thankfully Nino had found it and recognized her signature that was the same as on her backpack. When he had returned it, he complimented the designs inside and even asked if she could make a logo for him as he wanted to start uploading music online and thought a logo would make him more recognizable. Marinette agreed and the two started working together over the summer, becoming close friends in the process. 

“Nice try,” Marinette smiled sympathetically at Nino as he slumped into his seat, dropping his bag heavily on the floor in slight annoyance. 

“Worth the shot,” he said and was about to continue when a hand slammed on Marinette’s desk, startling her.

“Marinette Dupain-Cheng,” she cringed at the familiar drawl and powerful perfume. She looked up at the blonde who was already certain of her win.

“Chloé,” Marinette grumbled.

“That’s my seat,” Chloé remarked with a huff.

“But this was my seat last year,” Marinette tried to sound firm but ended up mumbling the rest of the sentence.

“New class new seats,” Marinette heard Sabrina slide into the seat next to her already set on pushing her out.

“Why don't you go be the good and friendly person you are and sit with the new girl? Anyway, my boyfriend Adrien's sitting in front so I want to be right behind him.”

“Adrien?” Marinette frowned, having never known that Chloé had a boyfriend. If she had Marinette was surprised that Chloé didn’t flaunt about it more in the previous years.

“You don’t know Adrien?” Chloé repeated with a condescending tone.

“He’s only a famous model!” Sabrina answered with an equally rude tone despite her voice being far too gentle for any sort of malice.

“And?”

“Get out of my seat!” Chloé snapped. Before Marinette could reply, a new voice interrupted to her surprise. 

“Leave her alone!” Marinette turned to where Chloé's normal seat was in front. That voice came from the new student by the sound of it. It was the girl Chloé had mentioned before with red-ish hair and bright eyes of someone who didn't know fear. Marinette stared in surprise at the girl’s squared shoulders, standing tall and ready to take on the one and only Chloé Bourgeois. 

“Listen up, new kid. My daddy is the mayor of Paris and can ruin your life with one phone call,” Chloé pulled out her phone as a threat.

Mlle. Bustier thankfully stepped in once she finished talking to Nathaniel at the front.

“Now Chloé, you know that on the first day you can pick your own seats if you make it here first. Marinette was clearly in that seat first. Anyway, if your friend does come wouldn't it be nice that he can see you close next to him?” Mlle. Bustier said calmly and Chloé went back to her old seat with a grumble. Sabrina got up and hurried over to Chloé who started bickering with the new girl in Sabrina’s seat as the Mlle. Bustier had to remind Alix to put the skates away just as the small student rolled into class. 

“I was here first, you both go sit in the back,” the new girl snapped.

“How about you sit with Marinette, Alya? She can show you around school,” Mlle. Bustier suggested carefully, wanting to make sure Chloé was at least slightly appeased. Alya muttered something that Marinette couldn’t pick up but knew it was nothing friendly towards the rich blonde.

Marinette watched as the new girl, Alya, trudged over to her new seat next to her. She seemed passionate, which was usually a dangerous sign since that would mean she would target Chloé. And if Marinette was anywhere close then she would also be a target for Chloé to harass. 

“Thanks for trying to defend me,” Marinette smiled at Alya who dumped her bag on the floor, “It’s hard to stand up to her.”

“Just because she’s rich and her dad’s the mayor doesn’t mean she can push everyone around,” Alya grumbled at first but grinned. “But what I’ve learned is that ‘all that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good people do nothing,’ which is why I won’t let her get her way.”

“Try telling her that,” Marinette sighed with a grimace.

“You’re one of the few that actually stood up to her though, pretty rad,” Nino turned around to face them. “I’m Nino, by the way.”

“Alya,” the two shook hands and Marinette raised her own.

“I’m Marinette,” she smiled as Alya firmly grasped her hand. Marinette remembered the box she brought in and opened it up, offering a macaron. Alya happily took one and Nino piped up.

“I love your parents macarons!” he exclaimed and Marinette giggled as she presented him with the box. With that Marinette started to offer them to the other students who also happily took one with a thanks.

As Marinette went up to offer one to Mlle. Bustier she tripped over something, or someone, and spilled the rest on the floor.

“Are you okay?” Mlle. Bustier helped up Marinette and the teacher frowned at the two girls in front who started to laugh. Regretfully, there was no evidence behind it so all Mme Bustier could do was make sure Marinette was okay.

“I’m alright, thank you Mlle. Bustier,” Marinette sighed, glancing at Chloé before throwing away her mess and going back to her seat just as the bell rang. She gave Chloé a wide berth so no other ‘accidents’ would happen to her on the way up the steps.

Class was relatively normal minus Chloé pouting about her boyfriend Adrien not showing up. Marinette was slightly satisfied in the fact that Chloé hadn’t gotten what she wanted. She had to learn that not everything was handed out on silver platters for her own pleasure.

The bell rang and Mlle. Bustier dismissed them for their next classes. Everyone started to get up when there was a roar from Ivan directly behind Marinette’s seat, causing her to jump in surprise. She whipped around to see Ivan’s fist balled up in Kim’s jacket, his other hand starting to rise up to punch the latter. Everyone backed away from the fight about to escalate, Marinette stumbling slightly down the steps to get to safety.

“Kim! I’m going to-”

“Ivan!” Mlle. Bustier cut in just as Ivan started to throw him arm forward. Ivan jolted at the stern tone of his teacher, his arm losing the momentum it had barely started to collect.

“But Kim was-”

“I don’t want to hear it. You’re going to stay here and we’re going to talk about this,” Mlle. Bustier ordered. Ivan growled menacingly and there was a crinkling of paper as Ivan furiously glared at Kim who scampered out of the room. Marinette frowned after the athlete while everyone else let out a breath of relief and started to head out, talking about the near assault.

Usually Ivan wasn’t one to lash out like that, which meant Kim had done something to upset the taller and quiet boy. Marinette hoped Ivan wouldn’t get in too much trouble.

“Let’s head to the library, then,” Alya interrupted her thoughts. Marinette nodded and followed after Alya to the library.

They snagged a seat in the back and pulled their homework out, ready to work. The two of them began discussing a topic in class and got started on their assignment while other students chatted around them.

“Ivan got a scolding from what it sounded like,” Marinette heard from behind them. She listened in and recognized Kim’s voice. “Did you see him try to hit me when I gave him that note? He doesn’t have the guts to do anything but grumble and lash out. He’ll never catch her attention with that attitude.”

“Is that why he’s in the locker room alone?” Max asked and Kim confirmed. Marinette frowned as the two started talking about something else. She didn’t want to leave Ivan in such a state.

“I forgot one of my books in my locker, I’ll be back in a second,” she told Alya who agreed to wait. 

Marinette entered the locker room to find it completely silent. She listened closely for anything and smiled when hearing a shuffling of feet in the back corner.  Making her way to the back row, she spotted Ivan glaring at the floor with his headphones on.  He saw her from the corner of his eye and blinked in surprise, pulling off his headphones. Heavy metal music blared from the headphones and Ivan quickly tried to pause it, failing a few times before successfully stopping it.

“Marinette? What are you doing here?” Ivan asked as she approached. Marinette took a seat and gave him a comforting smile.

“I heard about what Kim said to you. And while he did approach you the wrong way about it, I agreed with him and think you should talk to Myléne,” Marinette encouraged.

Ivan shuffled his feet against the floor, sighing. A few of the students from last year knew that Ivan had been crushing on Myléne for a while now but he never did anything to reveal how he felt about her, rather keeping to himself most of the time in school despite the support of everyone else. It looks like Kim was trying to get a rise out of Ivan to finally confess, but doing something like that wasn’t easy. And doing it wrong like Kim had only made it worse, as seen now. There was only so much you could do to encourage a person before it becomes overwhelming. 

“He’s right though. What if she doesn’t even like me? I’m too nervous to even talk to her.”

“You don’t know until you try. How about giving her flowers or doing something for her that you love and makes you feel comfortable yet shows her what you truly mean? You've been talking with her for a while so I think she would be comfortable with whatever you do,” Marinette suggested.

“I could write a song for her,” Ivan mumbled and Marinette beamed.

“That’s lovely! Any girl would love a song made just for them!”

“Really?” Ivan said hopefully, his furrowed expression lifting. 

“Of course! You can write out what you want to say to her and then you can tell her how you feel!” Marinette exclaimed and Ivan stood, determined.

“I’m going to finally tell her how I feel!” Ivan said determinedly and Marinette smiled as he ran off. She was surprised at his sudden determination to confess since it took some coaxing to get him to even talk to her in the first place last year, but this was a positive change. Marinette headed back to the library to find it full of gasps and murmurs, immediately recognizing that something was wrong as the students stared at their phones in worry. Marinette hurried to their table where her new friend sat.

“You’re not going to believe it!” Alya quickly patted Marinette's seat and the other girl sat down. “There are two supers fighting! No one knows who’s the good guy or bad guy though.”

"Supers?”

“Like superheroes and supervillains! The ones that fight crime!” Alya nearly shoved the phone in Marinette’s face and she watched the news reporting from a helicopter above the attack.

Sure enough, two people in outfits were fighting vigorously, one was a boy with blond hair in a black leather catsuit while the other was wearing a ladybug themed suit. It would’ve looked like a normal fight except for the fact that they were easily jumping across rooftops and climbing walls with ease. Marinette listened to the news station as Nadja Chamack started talking.

“As of right now all we know is that they’re trying to get something from one another called a Miraculous. This fight has been going on for a half hour and it’s causing a ton of damage to the city. Wait, it looks like the ladybug super has pulled out a new item and put it on! Their suit changed! Now the super looks like a ladybug and butterfly morphed together. Wow he’s definitely much stronger now and it beating the cat person.”

Everyone in the library gasped as they watched the ladybug person put a brooch on his suit and the suit transformed before their eyes, morphing into a dark purple and silver outfit with black spots everywhere. The red on the original suit went from scarlet red to dark maroon. 

The cat hero barely had time to react before the ladybug-butterfly punched him, sending him flying.

“I’ve got to check this out,” Alya quickly got up and rushed out of the library

“No, Alya!” Marinette followed after, not wanting her new friend to get hurt. Students and teachers alike were glued to their phones in awe and horror, ignoring the two students running out the doors of the school.

“Alya!” Marinette called out again as Alya booked it across the street towards the Seine without a glance at the traffic. Cars honked as the energized girl ran passed while Marinette waited until the light changed before continuing her pursuit.

By the time she reached the bridge that she spotted Alya running on, the red-head was gone. Marinette tried to look around the bridge but the crowd made the bridge packed with too many people.  Marinette wondered what to do now; wait here for Alya or go back to class? She figured class would be better because then she could tell Mme Bustier what had happened and possibly get Alya’s cell phone number to contact her.

As she started to make her way back, there were screams from in front of her and people rushed away from the school towards the Notre Dame. Marinette was jostled around roughly and yelped as someone stomped on her ankle as she got shoved around. There was a stabbing pain as her ankle was twisted at a rough angle while she crashed down to the ground.

“They’re coming!” people panicked and took no regard to the young teen as they surged forward in panic. Terror filled Marinette as people continued to rush past. Another foot stepped on her already injured leg and she cried out in pain, curling up and covering her head, unable to get up.

The crowd died down and Marinette risked looking up, seeing the people far ahead. She got up, gasping as pain shot up her leg as she tried to walk. She crumpled to the ground, clutching her ankle that throbbed.

Suddenly there was a thud and a grunt of pain as someone landed right behind her. She whipped around to find the cat boy who had been on the news, shaking his head. He dropped a silver baton and quickly reached forward to pick it up, looking up at her in the process.

Green eyes met blue and Marinette stared transfixed at his eyes, sclera completely green. Both sets of eyes widened when making contact, one in awe and the other in terror

“You need to get out of here!” the cat boy urged and looked back to see the lady-butterfly standing on the rooftop of the school, a yo-yo device spinning rapidly in his hands.

She took his warning and tried to escape the best she could, limping as she put pressure on her bad leg. Marinette's eyes pricked with tears as pain stabbed her ankle and she stumbled just as there was a loud whirring from behind.

“Look out!” there was a jolt from behind her and Marinette was knocked to the ground, but hands came around her head to secure her as the two fell. All she could see was black and felt an odd material as she gripped the person holding her. She looked up to see the cat boy holding her before he pulled Marinette up and scooped her into his arms without any warning. Marinette screamed as he extended his baton and the two were suddenly flying through the air as a large clang echoed from the spot they had just stood less than a second ago.

She held the boy tightly as he landed down safely away from the danger, setting her feet down on the ground. She winced as her bad ankle made contact with the floor and he helped her to the side of the bridge so she could lean on that as support.

“Sorry about that. There’s a shop right behind you. Get to safety, quickly!” the young man urged her. Marinette turned to thank him when the whirring noise occurred again and the boy grunted as he knocked it back with his baton. A silver cane suddenly flew out and struck the boy, causing him to stumble back in surprise. The yo-yo appeared again and lassoed the boy around the light post nearby. It was pulled taut and the cat boy was trapped tight under the string.

“Got you now, Chat Noir!” the lady-butterfly person spoke, voice gleeful. Marinette turned to see the other super approaching. His suit was a dark purple with maroon boots and gloves, black spots and lines running along his suit. He also had silver lines running on his chest in the shape of a plated chest plate and his face was completely covered by a face mask, only his both and cruel silver eyes gleaming from behind.

“Get out of here!” the boy Chat Noir, ordered her. Marinette was frozen in fear though, staring at the man so full of malice as he approached the boy.

“Your ring is mine! This was much easier than I thought thanks to this brooch,” Marinette watched him tap a butterfly brooch on his chest, a small ting echoing when he tapped it. “I’m far stronger than I was before.”

“Those don’t belong to you! Especially someone who tries to hurt innocent people!” Chat Noir grunted. Marinette listened painfully as Chat Noir cried out in agony when the man pulled on the yo-yo, tightening the string around him. She gasped, covering her hands with her mouth as she watched Chat Noir’s face contort in pain.

“I will get what I want, and you can’t stop me. You failed,” the man mocked as he drew closer to Chat Noir. 

“No, please!” Chat Noir begged and he tried to wiggle out of the bonds with no use. The man reached out, eyes focusing on Chat Noir’s ring on his finger.

Without a thought, Marinette rushed forward and grabbed the man, holding him back from Chat Noir. 

“What in the world?” she heard the older man exclaimed in surprise. She felt for his chest where his brooch was and grabbed it tightly in her fist. Both of the supers gasped.

“No!” the man screamed as Marinette yanked it off of him. There was a burst of purple warmth and Marinette fell back in shock, holding a brooch with pointed tips. Whatever it was that she grabbed, she managed to weaken him. His suit was back to the original ladybug red and black and the cane on the floor vanished.

“You little brat!” the man turned on her and Marinette backed away in fear as she heard him approach her. She tried to get up but couldn’t with her ankle and ended up stumbling as hands violently pulled her back. 

“Give it back!” the man yelled and tried to pry it from Marinette’s hands. Marinette desperately held on as tight as she could until the man let go when a heavy thud echoed from above.

“You mangy cat!” the man snarled.

“Cataclysm!” Chat Noir yelled and the man cursed, releasing Marinette who pulled the brooch tightly into her chest and watched the ladybug man throw his yo-yo and escape with a high pitched whirring. Marinette clutched the brooch, panting as her head hit the floor gently as she relaxed.

She didn’t hear anything until a thump echoed close to her, an exhale of both relief and exhaustion coming from Chat Noir. She sat up and watched him grab a piece of trash on the floor with his bubbling back hand and the object turned to dust. There was a beep and he looked at his ring in hand, slumping. What had just happened?

“That was close,” he said after a long moment, hands resting on his legs. The helicopter whirred up above and Marinette looked at it before turning back to Chat Noir.

“Are you okay?” she asked, worried. He chuckled.

“You have it the other way around, I’m supposed to be asking if you’re okay. You just got attacked by a super villain.”

“You did too,” Marinette pointed out. There was another chuckle.

“That is true. But are you alright? He didn’t grab you too hard? Or when I knocked you down? Sorry about that, by the way,” she could her the guilt in his tone and watched his ears droop.

“It’s alright. I’m fine,” Marinette comforted him.

“And your ankle? It’s starting to swell,” he worried as he got up and looked at her carefully. His hands were gentle as he examined her leg and Marinette also followed his gaze to her bad leg. Sure enough, it was swelling and already looked bruised where it had been stomped on.

“I can get it checked in a bit,” Marinette dismissed before looking to where the spotted man had fled. “I’m just glad he left without doing too much damage.”

“Me too. Thank you by the way, you really helped me there,” Chat Noir stood up and Marinette heard his strained exhale, feeling bad for him.

“I was returning the favor. You saved me twice today,” Marinette’s gaze followed him as he picked up his baton and stuck it onto his lower back where it stayed in place.

“That’s my job to do that. You on the other hand could’ve gotten hurt yet you still rushed in to help. It takes a lot of courage to do what you did,” he praised and extended his hands towards Marinette. She grasped it and he pulled her up carefully, going to her bad side and wrapping an arm under her shoulder, pulling her arm over him.

Marinette felt the cool material of his suit under her arms and hands and was surprised that it wasn’t made of leather. It was a smooth material that seemed strong yet flexible under her grip, able to be pinched and held but not too much since it was wrapped snug around him.

“Can I leave you at that school? Once I use my powers I only have a few minutes until I transform back,” he asked and she nodded. They made their way back to the school, him going slow to keep with her pace.

“You’re a better hero than I am,” Chat Noir suddenly said as they crossed the street and arrived at the school. His sincerity overwhelming in his gentle voice, making Marinette blush.

“I think you’re a great hero,” she said but he sighed somberly.

“So many things went wrong today. And it’s barely my first day,” he admitted as he unwound himself from her.

“That’s okay. Sure sometimes things go wrong, but there are good things that can come of it,” Marinette pressed the brooch into his hand. He was quiet for a second and looked at Marinette with a grateful smile. Marinette felt her face warm up at his smile and couldn’t help but return it.

“Thank you. I needed to hear that today. It hasn’t been a good day even though I got some super cool super powers. But meeting you made it better,” his expression fell and Marinette frowned.

“What happened?” Marinette asked.

“I have to go, maybe another time,” he smiled sadly and slipped his hand out of hers.

“Thank you, Monsieur Chat Noir. I’m grateful to have met you,” Marinette smiled. There was a beep from his ring which made her smile fall. She wanted to know if he was alright.

The school doors opened and the teachers came out, hurrying out to help Marinette.

Chat Noir picked up her hand with his own and she let out a soft gasp when he pressed a gentle kiss to her knuckles. She looked down at him in surprise and he gave a stunning smile. Heat flooded her cheeks and she gaped at the hero in front of her.

“You can just call me Chat Noir. And the pleasure was mine,” he breathed and extended his baton into the sky, pulling him up with it. She followed after him with wide eyes as the teachers made sure she was okay before helping her inside into the safety of the school.


	3. Stoneheart

“I can’t believe you ran into Chat Noir!” Alya exclaimed as they walked into school the next day. The principal decided to cancel class for the rest of the day yesterday because the fight had been so close to school and they wanted to make sure there were no more attacks. 

“I can’t believe you missed him, if only you had stayed near school,” Marinette chided with a playful smile. They reached the steps and Alya took one of Marinette’s crutches and Marinette used the other one to pull her up with the help of the rail. Her ankle had gotten a nasty sprain and was also pretty bruised from where it had gotten stepped on. The doctor said she wouldn’t be able to walk for a few weeks due to the swelling which limited her from walking around Paris in order to get inspiration. Marinette was happy she at least had some projects already in progress that she could work on at home and not get too bored.

“But that was the coolest thing ever! I wanted to get some footage on it at least,” Alya sighed in disappointment.

Marinette giggled as they made their way into class when Alya gasped, staring at their seats. Marinette followed her gaze as Alya stomped over to her seat to see a better look at what was happening.

A boy was looking at Marinette's seat in disgust as he fiddled with something on it. Alya crossed her arms in front of her chest as she glared at the boy from across the bench.

“What are you doing to Marinette’s chair? Putting gum on it?” Alya demanded angrily and the boy looked up in surprise. Marinette now made her way over to her spot as the boy rose up. He stared at Alya before turning to face Marinette.

He was pretty cute with blond hair brushed to the side and bright green eyes which widened when he looked down at her from the step above, but that wasn’t going to affect Marinette. His cheeks grew rosy when meeting her upset expression.

“This gum was- I was- put it on-” he was cut off at Chloé and Sabrina’s gleeful laughter next to Marinette.

“Like I said, Adrikins. Establish your place,” Chloé advised the newcomer.

“Like two wasn’t enough already, now there’s another one of Chloé’s followers. I assume you’re her boyfriend,” Marinette glared at the boy who backed away from her seat. She pulled out a handkerchief from her bag and picked up the gum with it, but when she had turned around to throw away the gum her foot got caught on the boy’s bag and tripped her, crutches and body falling down painfully as everyone else winced.

Nino rushed up and helped Marinette while Chloé and Sabrina’s laughter doubled. Marinette felt her face flush in angry embarrassment as Nino helped her, him taking the handkerchief from her and throwing away the gum as she adjusted the crutches, arms throbbing from where she fell on them. Alya hurried over and moved anything that could trip her again.

Meanwhile Marinette turned back to see the boy had leaned forward towards her with a look of horror. It seemed like he had considered helping her but Marinette doubted it. Not if he was one of Chloé’s friends.

“Are you satisfied?” Marinette glared before pointedly ignoring him as she got seated and pulled her things out of her bag. The boy sighed and made his way to his seat as Mlle. Bustier entered, soft heels clacking on the floor.

“It might’ve been me, but that boy was full on blushing at you,” Alya murmured to Marinette who shook her head in annoyance, glaring at the blond in front of her who was wrapping up a conversation with Nino.

“And Chloé’s actually nice,” Marinette scoffed, earning a giggle from Alya. Mme Bustier started the lesson by introducing Adrien to the class who was overly excited at roll call, getting a chuckle from everyone but the girl behind him.

Nothing was different than usual, although Marinette couldn’t help but notice how intelligent Adrien was when answering all of the questions in class with ease, especially with Physics. At least he wasn’t like Chloé who harassed Sabrina to do her work.

During lunch Marinette made her way downstairs from class as Alya when she heard footsteps running by rather quickly. She paused as the person ran past- Myléne to her surprise- and curiously wondered after the girl before deciding to resume her walk home for lunch. 

Before she could take another step though, the locker room doors burst open and Ivan rushed out. 

“Myléne!” Ivan called out after the girl who fled the school. There was an angry groan from Ivan who dropped his phone which skittered to Marinette’s feet as it blasted heavy metal music. She bent down and picked it up, casting a concerned glance to Ivan.

“What happened?” Marinette asked as she handed him back his phone. He muttered a thanks as he paused the song playing.

“She ran away from me,” he grumbled. “I knew she hated me.”

“Well, there must be some reason for her to have run away. Maybe she was shy?” Marinette wondered.

“But I don’t get it! I made her a song and everything!” Ivan exclaimed.

“It’s all about how you present it. It could’ve been overwhelming for her, and Myléne is a shy person from what it seems like,” Marinette tried to reason but Ivan only muttered something about getting lunch and left. Marinette sadly watched his slouched frame as he left, feet slightly dragging until he headed out of school. Was this her fault for trying to push him? She hoped it didn’t affect his relationship with Myléne after this.

Marinette started to make her way back home, guiltily mulling over the issue with Ivan and Myléne. It would be awful if she ended up ruining their relationship before it was even started. Maybe she could try to get Ivan to sing a more gentle version of the song? It could’ve been the heavy metal that scared her off. Anyway Myléne was very similar to a frightened mouse when something came up that was different than normal. Marinette could try to encourage him to go for another tactic that wouldn’t scare her. 

Marinette felt awful as she realized she shouldn’t have pressed Ivan to do something he wasn’t comfortable with. It probably wasn’t the song but rather his rushed emotions to make something for Myléne that ended up being overbearing for both of them. Maybe it was better to just let the two of them figure it out somehow. It was best not to get involved when she didn’t have to.

Marinette entered the bakery to find it rather empty, surprising her. Making her way upstairs she could hear the sound of the TV coming from the living room. Marinette opened the door and entered with a curious tilt of her head. Her parents were watching the news tensely, Sabine with her hands covering her mouth while Tom had his hands gripped in fists.

“What’s going on?” she asked aloud.

“Thank goodness you’re alright,” Sabine went over and greeted Marinette with a kiss on the cheek, her voice directed away from the teen as she worriedly faced the television again, “That villain is out there again attacking the town. He injured Chat Noir badly yesterday from what it sounds like. Chat Noir hasn’t been seen yet and Coccinelle is looking for him right now.”

Marinette directed her attention to the TV where Nadja was explaining the situation in a serious tone.

“We so far only have footage of Coccinelle making his way around town causing damage to the city and people. Oh no! A young girl was just caught under some rubble from a building! Coccinelle is watching her now and tempting Chat Noir to come out,” Nadja said as Sabine gasped.

“Help!” Marinette heard from the screen and the camera focused on the girl trapped.

“That’s Myléne!” Marinette recognized the girl in shock. There was another familiar voice and Marinette listened closely.

“A young boy is trying to help the girl but police have blocked off everything,” Nadja said aloud and the camera panned to Ivan who was trying to get to Myléne. Marinette stood there feeling hopeless, unable to do anything to help.

“You shouldn’t listen to this, I don’t know if it’ll get worse,” Sabine worriedly urged Marinette to go upstairs to her room. When getting upstairs though Marinette simply hurried to her own computer to watch the news.

Marinette frowned when seeing a black box on her desk that hadn’t been there in the morning. She curiously picked it up and examined it. It was small and wooden with red engravings that looked similar to Chinese symbols but not exactly. Marinette curiously opened up the box to see what was inside when a bright glowing purple light shone out from the box. She covered her eyes from the blinding light until it faded.

When Marinette uncovered her eyes she was met with a moth-like creature with wings but an overly large head. Marinette stared at it with wide eyes as it blinked at her and smiled, wings fluttering.

  
“Nice to meet you! My name is-” Marinette’s scream cut off the creature and she flew out of her seat, crashing awkwardly to the floor.

“Marinette?” Sabine called out in worry.

“There’s a-” she was cut off as the bug creature flew at her, trying to hush the frantic girl. This only made Marinette scream and panic, grabbing her crutches and trying to swat the creature. She ended up whacking the box and it flew off the table, hitting the wall before rebounding and falling on the floor. Something had fallen out of the box in the process and Marinette looked down at it, her arms stilling in surprise.

The purple butterfly brooch she snatched yesterday sparkled up at her. Marinette forgot about the bug creature as she picked up the brooch silently, finally admiring it since she didn’t have much time to yesterday.

It had a dark purple gem in the middle with four small tips protruding from it that looked like wings. The gem seemed to twinkle brightly with a light of its own.

“Marinette?” her maman called again and Marinette remembered the reason why she screamed. She quickly looked up at the bug creature who had been looking at the brooch and now stared at her, not moving as it floated in the air.

“It’s fine! A bug hit my window! Pretty scary!” she called back. There was silence between the two in the room, the bug realizing it was better for the girl to move first.

“What are you?” Marinette finally asked.

“I’m Nooroo. I am a kwami, a being formed by the creation of an idea or concept, mine being the concept of Generosity. With my powers I can allow my holder to create Champions out of the emotions they feel from people and inspire them to be better than before.”

“Holder?”

“The person that wield the Miraculous,” Nooroo confirmed.

Marinette frowned before gasping in realization, “That’s the thing that Chat Noir and Concinelle were talking about!”

“Yes!” Nooroo buzzed happily.

“So you give me powers to fight?”

“Correct!”

“And these Champions, are they people?”

“Yes! They’re people with strong emotions that you feel will be able to help you with your mission.”

“But, I can’t fight like Chat Noir right now,” Marinette pointed at her wrapped up leg with a sigh.

“No worries! The Butterfly is actually a more passive fighter. We can fight but our true strength lies in the ability to make others to fight for us. If you really need to fight though you can, but seeing how you can’t that’s completely fine,” Nooroo comforted.

“Why was I chosen?” Marinette asked curiously.

“The Miraculous of Generosity is best with a person who is always ready to lend a helping hand, especially a forward person as you that stands up to what’s right. You always want to do good and be there for people, and what better way than this?”

Marinette stared at the brooch in her hand and looked up at her dark computer screen where the fight was still in full scale most likely. One thing was for certain, Chat Noir needed help and Myléne was in trouble. She had to do something.

“How do I use your power?” Marinette asked. Nooroo fluttered up happily.

“You equip it by saying Wings Rise and revert back into your civilian form by saying Wings Fall. When you want to make a Champion, you seek out a person with the strong emotions that you desire, fill the butterfly with energy that transforms it, and bless people with powers when the activated butterfly contacts them. From there they have a mind of their own for the most part and you can see what they’re doing. You can always pull back on the power if they start to do something you dislike as well to revert the Champion back into their normal form,” Nooroo informed Marinette.

“Let’s do this,” Marinette gripped the brooch and clipped it onto her shirt. It transformed into a small brooch with no wings.

“Ready?” Nooroo asked, turning Marinette’s attention to the kwami. She nodded.

“You only have approximately five minutes to make your Champion. Once the butterfly is formed your timer starts. Make sure you pick someone close to the scene and try to convince them as fast as possible. Remember, it’s Wings Rise and Wings Fall,” Nooroo said.

Marinette took a deep breath, calming her beating heart.

“Wings Rise,” she said and felt the miraculous on her shirt warm up. A fluttering rushed over her and she gasped as her body tingled with a new feeling. When the fluttering finished, Marinette felt much stronger and started to smile when something hit her head with the impact of a speeding truck.

It was a blasting pain that forced her down to the ground, holding her head tightly as she let out a choked noise of surprise. She opened her eyes to see what hit her but saw nothing unusual. She grit her teeth as another wave washed over her. It felt as if there were thousands of butterflies in the room, thrumming around and overwhelming her senses. Whatever it was that was bothering Marinette flew around in a panicked frenzy, but when opening her eyes the room was completely still.

Another wave of frantic fluttering washed over her and Marinette grew nauseous, covering her mouth to stop her from throwing up. Her eyes burned with tears as the nausea intensified and Marinette clutched the brooch, ready to tear it off.

A single calm spot caught Marinette’s attention and she focused on it, feeling the steadfast pillar holding her down amidst the chaos everywhere.

She calmed her breathing, taking rattling inhales and letting out the deep exhale as she focused on this one mysterious pillar.

Marinette finally managed to open her eyes and looked outside the window where she felt that pillar calling to her. She took a shuddering breath and realized that she was staring in the direction where the fight was.

“Are these… emotions?” Marinette wondered aloud, recalling Nooroo saying to seek someone with strong emotions. He must’ve meant this when he mentioned it.

She rubbed her head that was still throbbing and noticed the texture on her hands, pulling it away from her head and looking down at her outfit.

She wore a lavender and black cheongsam that was designed to look like a butterfly wing wrapped around her body, elegant silver embroidery outlining the design of the wing. The buttons were designed to look like butterflies, the top button above her breast being replaced with the brooch. She wore long white gloves and leggings with lavender below the knee boots also made to impersonate butterflies.

Marinette looked at the cane in her hands, a white butterfly floating inside. She managed to pop open the cane and the butterfly carefully walked into her hand while the girl stared at it in awe, amazed by its beauty. She pressed a gentle kiss to it as the powerful emotion coursed through her and anchored her down.

The butterfly started glowing a soft purple, reminding her of Nooroo.

“Go, find the one that calls you,” she urged and the butterfly quickly took off after the determined soul as her brooch beeped. She watched one of the petals curl in on itself and vanish into the gem in the middle which most likely meant she was on her timer now.

Thankfully the scene of the battle was close to the school so the butterfly made it there in record time. Marinette felt it make contact with the individual hosting that strong emotion and the person gasped in surprise as she intruded on his mind, feeling his doubts now about helping, his insecurities with himself, but his determination to help her was the strongest driver as he tried to get closer.

“What- who?” Ivan stuttered, backing away.

“It’s okay,” Marinette said calmly. “I know you want to help Mylene and I can see you really care about her. You have the ability to do anything if you have the courage to take that step forward. Shall we take that step forward and help?” Marinette asked.

“I want to help her,” Ivan whispered.

“Then rise, Stoneheart. May your heart be unwavering like a mountain, unbreakable and determined. Save Myléne and protect her from Coccinelle” Marinette said and she blinked in surprise as her vision changed. Now she was looking through Ivan’s own eyes, staring down at the police before her who backed away at Ivan’s transformation 

Ivan immediately turned to face Coccinelle who had his yo-yo wrapped around Myléne’s neck, ready to attack.

Give her back!” Ivan roared in fury. He charged towards Coccinelle who released his yo-yo around Myléne so he could escape. Stoneheart quickly took the rubble off of Myléne and guided her to safely while Chat Noir who had been trying to reason with the villain now fought Coccinelle without any restraints. Stoneheart continued to try to make sure she was okay when Chat Noir let out a noise of pain from behind.

“Stoneheart, you must help Chat Noir. If you don’t then Coccinelle will try to hurt your loved one again,” Marinette encouraged and thankfully Stoneheart listened, going after Coccinelle who cursed and moved out of the way.

Chat Noir realized what was going on and started to also beat back Coccinelle who grunted as Stoneheart grabbed a hold of his yoyo and pulled, dragging the villain right into Chat’s waiting claws. He managed to grab on of the earrings and started to pull it off when Coccinelle beat him back.

“Lucky Charm!” Coccinelle called out, a piece of sticky fly trap paper appearing. Marinette frowned at it, watching Coccinelle look around, formulating a plan. Coccinelle rushed forward and pressed the sticky paper against Chat Noir’s baton when the cat hero tried to attack Coccinelle. Marinette realized his plan as Coccinelle managed to extend the baton and point it right at Stoneheart’s fist.

“Don’t let him get the paper, Chat! Noir!” she called out and heard Stoneheart repeat what she had said to the young hero. As Coccinelle lodged the baton right between Stoneheart’s grip, the sticky paper sticking to the object in his hand that the butterfly had landed on. Chat Noir retracted the baton, pulling the object with him and safely away from Coccinelle. Before the villain could attack, Stoneheart wrapped his free hands around the villain and raised him up, arms stuck underneath him.

“Hold him there!” Chat Noir told Stoneheart. The golem nodded and kept Coccinelle trapped tightly.

Marinette heard the urgent beeping from both her miraculous and Coccinelle’s. She grit her teeth. If she detransformed now then Chat would be alone for a few minutes with Coccinelle and who knows what would happen with all of the people around. Someone else could be taken hostage.

“Hurry!” she called out to Chat who climbed up Stoneheart to where his fists were. Coccinelle struggled against Stoneheart’s grasp, and Marinette watched as his emotions raised in fear. 

He didn’t want to get caught. If he failed, something very bad would happen to someone. But Marinette couldn’t tell anything else beside those current emotions in Coccinelles mind.

“You must tell everyone else to get away!” she told Stoneheart who roared back at everyone with her warning, terrifying them to run off. 

“No!” Coccinelle grit his teeth and tried to pull his head back. Chat leaned forward to pull off the earring when Marinette’s miraculous chirped loudly.

“Chat!” she tried to call out her vision of Ivan’s eyes faded and she was left in her room, kwami sinking down to the floor and onto her lap.

Marinette scooped up the kwami with one hand and quickly yet gently placed him down on the table before hurrying downstairs to see what had happened on the news, nearly slipping down the steps in her rush.“What happened?” she asked her parents.

“A rock golem appeared and saved the girl, but when he had grabbed that villain Coccinelle, it turned into a boy. That allowed for Coccinelle to escape with Chat Noir in pursuit,” Sabine pointed to the screen where Ivan and Myléne were talking. People were asking Ivan questions but he grew nervous, stepping away from them, Marinette smiled as Myléne took his hand in comfort as he was asked questions.

“Are you one of those Miraculous people as well?” someone asked.

“No, there was a voice in my head. A woman. She gave me the power,” Ivan looked up as he watched the butterfly continue to flutter away.

“Why were you given the power?”

“Um, it was- Well- The woman said I could protect Mylene with my powers so I agreed…” Ivan mumbled, sparing a quick glance at Myléne who stared in surprise.

“You did that for me? That’s really brave,” Mylene’s cheeks went pink and she averted her gaze from Ivan. Marinette smiled happily when seeing that they were both still holding hands.

Ivan’s face was scarlet by the time Chat Noir returned with the object the butterfly had possessed. As Chat Noir returned the object, Myléne accidentally saw what it had said. The camera recording her reading it and Marinette smiled as the girl’s cheek flushed a deeper pink.

“Looks like we got ourselves here a romantic ending to a stressful situation. Let’s see if Chat Noir wants to answer any questions,” Nadja was saying but as she turned to the hero, Chat Noir saluted the crowd and left with a twirl of his baton.

Marinette sighed with relief and grabbed some lunch and took it upstairs, offering some of her chocolate and fruit to the little god who gratefully ate it, wings fluttering happily as the two sat and talked.

“You did amazing! I’m very proud of you,” the kwami praised.

“Really?” Marinette asked. “I didn’t stop Coccinelle and he’s still out there on the move.”

“That’s fine! You chose the perfect Champion for this situation and were able to navigate the scene well,” Nooroo complimented and Marinette flushed with pride, smiling down at the kwami and resumed their lunch without any negative disturbances.

Alya was having a field day. She managed to get there when Ivan had transformed and recorded the whole thing. By the time Marinette arrived back at school, Alya had already questioned Ivan and Myléne and was now creating a blog called Noir News that was designed to upload all of the fights and information she could get on these new heroes. 

“That sounds impressive,” Marinette praised Alya as they got settled down. The energy in class was bubbling from all of the action at lunch that it was hard for lessons to continue in silence. Alya especially was focused on her website, mumbling a few things as she typed away on her phone with new ideas.

Marinette noticed that even without the suit, she could still feel the fluttering emotions of the people around her. It thankfully wasn’t as severe as when she was in the suit, but it was taking some getting used to. Currently Alya’s emotions were swirling around quickly, reminding her of an excited bouncy ball. Maybe this emotion was excitement? Happiness? It was hard to determine.

“What do you think of the golem Stoneheart? Myléne said he saved her so I assume whoever gave Ivan those powers is good. Plus they tried to stop Coccinelle,” Alya asked as classes we were let out for the day.

“I'm not sure. I wonder how it works,” Marinette said calmly, trying not to smile. Just thinking about how she actually did something today was amazing enough, feeling the soft weight of her purse on her hip and knowing who was inside.

“Ivan said that the person who gave him powers could speak to him in his mind and that it sounded like a woman. I would love to find out more about how it works though,” Alya agreed with her in a thoughtful hum before groaning as she checked her phone.

“My sisters forgot their umbrellas and they don't want to get wet. I have to go pick them up. See you tomorrow!” Alya called and quickly headed out.

Marinette had to talk to the art teacher quickly about one of her sketches before leaving, the school empty as she headed out. The silence was slightly soothing after such a hectic day, but the rain… Marinette frowned as she felt the heavy drops hit her hand. She retracted her hand underneath the awning of the building, wondering if it was better to wait out the storm.

“Hi,” she heard the now familiar voice of Adrien. He had been eagerly participating in class all day so she managed to remember his voice very easily. The eagerness still seemed to be etched in her mind because that's all she heard from his greeting despite what he had done to her today.

Marinette frowned, stepping back from the rain and purposely turning her head away from the blond.

She could hear the soft sigh as he opened his umbrella and listened to the heavy rain pattering on it as he walked out from under the awning.

“I was trying to take the gum off of your chair,” Marinette faced him in surprise when he spoke up. “Not put it on. I'm sorry for not really expressing that. I've never been to school before and I've never had many friends so it’s hard for me to say what I truly mean. Could we start over?” he asked hopefully. She now fully took in his expression and noticed how sincere he looked.

Marinette felt bad. She should've given him a chance to say what he wanted to say rather than assuming the worst from him even if he was a friend of Chloé. He must've felt alone and confused today coming into a completely new environment from what he was used to, and to get into a situation like this must've really dampened his spirits. She could feel his emotions fluttering around, most slow and lethargic. Yet she couldn’t help but be impressed at the hope he still had as he waited for her response.

“I should apologize too. It was wrong of me to judge you just because you were a friend of Chloé. We can start over.” She extended her hand towards him with a smile, “I'm Marinette, and you are?”

He chuckled and she felt his warm hand slide into hers. His grip was gentle and hand soft as he shook it. The slow emotions picked up and Marinette pondered what they were. Happiness? Relief? This was definitely going to take some getting used to.

“Adrien Agreste,” he said warmly before adding, “Do you need a ride? My driver can take you back home so you don't have to walk back in the rain.”

“It's alright, my house is right there,” she pointed to the corner where her house was. “I was planning on letting the storm pass.”

“Here, you can use my umbrella, the rain is coming down pretty hard so who knows when it will stop,” Adrien extended his umbrella out to her but then paused, looking at the crutches. Marinette also looked down at her foot and realized she had no way to grab the umbrella and crutches at the same time. 

"Seems like I forgot I had these," Marinette said sheepishly and Adrien snorted before covering his mouth, embarrassed. 

"I'm so sorry," he apologized but Marinette giggled, making Adrien's face softened as his smile grow.

Thunder boomed from above and they both jumped. Adrien accidentally pressed a button on the umbrella and it closed, sandwiching the two underneath it with a fat whoomp.

The two stood under it stunned for a second before breaking out into joined laughter, shaking the umbrella. Marinette continued to giggle as she tried to pull up the umbrella, Adrien following suit with chuckles of his own. Her crutches fell over as she tried to help and the two giggled even more at the mess. She felt the mirth he radiated and it warmed her as they gathered their bearings.

"How about I walk you to your house then," Adrien grinned and Marinette smiled. He lifted his umbrella for her to slip under and they both slowly made their way to her house, his driver following alongside them in the car.

They didn't notice the older man watching the two under his own umbrella, green kwami at his side.

“Excellent choice, Master,” the kwami said.

“Yesterday was a close one. I was just about to step in which would’ve been extremely dangerous. It pains me though that they must do this alone,” the man’s sadness was prominent in his worried eyes as he watched the teens get farther from him.

“You know we must keep our distance. If they have information on us and are captured…” the green kwami warned and his holder nodded, turning and walking away.

“The consequences will be severe,” the man finished.


	4. The Pharaoh

Marinette settled down comfortably on the bench outside in the courtyard as students started to arrive into school. She pulled out her sketchbook and resumed her drawing from the night before, invigorated from the recent battle. She already had designed an outfit inspired by Chat Noir and was even making her own ideas for an outfit based on her hero persona. It was still a lot to take in that she was now Chat Noir’s partner in saving Paris whenever Coccinelle came out. Even now she was still thinking of the little kwami in her purse currently napping, a few cream puffs safely packed away in her backpack since the kwami needed those to recover his energy.

“What’s up, dude?” Marinette looked up as she heard Nino’s familiar voice.

“Hey! I’m just working on some sketches,” Marinette said as he sat down next to her and peered over her arm to see what she had done so far. 

“Is that a Chat Noir outfit? That’s pretty sweet you’ve already come up with a design despite him only being out for a week,” Nino complimented and Marinette smiled happily.

“He did save my life so I felt really inspired by him. How’s your music doing so far? I remember you mentioning you were going to do some work making a Jagged Stone remix? Jagged Stone’s amazing and I know you’ll do his work justice.”

“Jagged Stone is amazing,” Nino sighed dreamily and Marinette laughed. 

“I’m expecting the wedding invitation when you do an amazing collaboration with him in the future,” Marinette hummed playfully with a wiggle of her eyebrows and Nino laughed.

“Wedding?” Alya mused as she arrived and the two greeted her.

“Nino’s getting married to Jagged Stone,” Marinette grinned and Nino laughed, bumping her shoulder playfully. 

“That’ll be perfect. I’ll have all interview access to Jagged Stone whenever I want,” Alya cackled jokingly and Nino gave a mock gasp.

“How dare you abuse our friendship for self profit! I’m wounded,” Nino said somberly. “Is our relationship only for the benefit of your latest scoop?” 

“You know it! Speaking about the latest scoop, did you hear that Alix thinks that those Miraculous are actually thousands of years old?” Alya’s eyes sparking with interest. Marinette could feel the excitement in her rising up.

“Really?” Marinette asked, intrigued. It would be really beneficial to learn more about these mysterious Miraculous since she was using one. Being with Alya had its perks since the journalist was also in pursuit of Coccinelle so Marinette could talk about any theories that she might have of his secret identity. The only main issue was that Alya wanted to also find out about the identity of both Chat Noir and the secret hero who hadn’t been revealed yet, mostly due to the fact that Marinette’s ankle was sprained. 

“Alix and her father was going over some hieroglyphs a couple days ago when she noticed that one of them was wearing a spotted pattern. Her dad had always accounted it as strange but never thought much of it, assuming it was a lesser Egyptian god. But now he thinks it might be the Miraculous they might be holding in the images. She says her dad wants to ask the supers questions but seeing how they’re always trying to kill one another might not work,” Alya chuckled and Marinette agreed with a smile.

“How about we go check it out today? Maybe Alix wouldn't mind showing us what she and her dad found so you can put it on your blog?” Marinette suggested. She could feel the curiosity and enthusiasm bubbling off of Alya and Marinette pinched her lips to not smile too much. It was getting slightly easier to read emotions now, especially after talking with Nooroo about it. Higher energy usually meant passionate emotions while slower moving energy meant either negative or calmer emotions. Then there were the strong emotions that called out to her now and then, usually meaning they were good Champions.

Nooroo explained that usually Champions were formed with the positive emotions such as love, hope, and determination. These positive emotions created stronger Champions which were more beneficial in battle and could also have increased intelligence and tactical skills. 

“That’s genius! I’ll go ask her right now then!” Alya took off, leaving Marinette back with Nino.

“That girl has a one track mind, doesn’t she?” Nino hummed in amusement and Marinette couldn’t help but agree.

After school the two met up with Alix who took them to the Louvre, talking about their speculations on the Miraculous.

“Do you think Chat Noir, Coccinelle and the other hero are actually thousands of years old?” Alya asked aloud. Marinette mulled over this thoughtfully; she didn’t actually know much about Chat despite them being partners. Due to her being on crutches she had yet to actually meet Chat Noir in person.

“When Chat Noir saved me he did tell me it was his first day, so that means that he is a person rather than a god. That also means he can’t be thousands of years old,” Marinette said.

“That is true, but we don’t even know how old Coccinelle or the other hero is so we can’t really determine much about their age either,” Alix said. Alya sighed.

“I really want to see that other hero physically in action. She helped a lot with the first Champion as Stoneheart called himself that Coccinelle was backed into a corner pretty quickly. He was forced to use his Lucky Charm on him so Chat has more time to fight Coccinelle before he detransforms.”

“I figured the other hero would come out in person to at least introduce themselves but they still haven’t. I wonder why she doesn’t fight?” Alix wondered as they entered the Egyptian Exhibit.

“Maybe it requires a ton of energy to make the Champion so she can’t do much fighting,” Alya suggested but fell quiet as Alix lead them deeper into the exhibit.

She guided them to one of the scrolls on the wall and pointed at it, “See? That figure on the scroll is wearing a spotted dress with a device that looks like a yo-yo. And that one looks like a cat which we first assumed was Bastet the lioness goddess, but the figure is dressed as a male and doesn’t have the complete cat head which confused us until recently. Now it makes sense seeing Chat Noir. I was actually the one that put the two together,” Alix said with a slight hint of pride. Marinette smiled warmly at that while Alya began excitedly taking pictures.

“This would be great to learn more about them. Now I’m dying to know their true identities,” Alya sighed happily.

Marinette frowned at that now, “But isn’t that dangerous to know their identities?”

“It’s only dangerous if the hero has a family, but seeing how these miraculous holders could possibly be gods reborn then I don’t see the problem. Think of it like celebrities!”

“But they’re not celebrities, they’re heroes,” Marinette pointed out. Trying to stress her point, she continued, “It’s their duty to protect the people, not entertain them.”

“And if they aren’t a reincarnation, they might have family that could be used as hostages,” Alix added. Marinette was thankful that at least someone else understood the risks of being a hero.

“I know but- what are you doing here?” Alya’s voice raised in pitch and the other two girls turned to see Coccinelle standing at the entrance of the exhibit. Marinette panicked, looking for an escape route while the fear started to increase in the other two girls.

“You don’t belong here, villain,” Alix called out to him despite her fear. Footsteps echoed from behind Coccinelle and Marinette saw M. Kubdel and his son Jalil right behind the villain.

“Stand down, Coccinelle!” M. Kubdel shouted as they stopped behind him..

“Pa! Jalil!” Alix called out in relief.

“It’ll be alright, kids. We’re putting this place on lockdown so you can’t escape, Coccinelle,” M. Kubdel growled when the villain threw the yoyo at Alix. The girl screamed as it wrapped around her and Coccinelle pulled her to him as he jumped down the steps and deeper into the exhibit.

“Give me the information about that mural, Kubdel!” Coccinelle said coldly, “Or your daughter suffers.”

“Let go of me!” Alix shouted and Coccinelle grunted as she started to hit him. Once again Marinette found herself running with a limp towards the villain and latching herself onto him.

“Put the room on lockdown!” Marinette called out. She could hear M. Kubdel giving orders in his walkie talkie while Jalil also rushed over and grabbed Coccinelle who was struggling to keep a hold of Alix. The small girl seemed to realize what was happening and also held down Coccinelle who grunted at the three bodies wrapped around him. Alya hurried forward to help, her footsteps drawing in.

“Pests,” he growled and with a sudden burst of strength, Coccinelle threw his arms out violently and knocked the three down. Marinette’s head rammed into the side of the sarcophagus and she painful clutched it, trying to orient herself as her eyes watered. Coccinelle’s yoyo whirred and everyone shouted at the sound of pounding feet.

“Lock the front entrance! He’s got Alix!” M. Kubdel yelled into his walkie talkie. Meanwhile Jalil ran after the villain.

“What are we going to do?” Alya panicked, hurrying over to help Marinette up. Marinette clutched her head and paused when feeling something wet. She pulled her hand back to find it red, her head throbbing more intensely now.

“You’re bleeding,” M. Kubdel approached the two young girls. “Let’s get you to the staff room.”

The three made their way over to the staff room where M. Kubdel grabbed a kit and began to treat her. Marinette could feel the anxiety flowing off of him in waves as he listened to the walkie talkie that kept going off. It sounds like they managed to get Coccinelle trapped but he still was holding Alix hostage and wouldn’t let her go.

“He just summoned his Charm!” one of the people shouted through the speaker. The waves of anxiety rolling off of M. Kubdel only grew worse and she could feel his hands starting to shake as he held the gauze to her head to try to stop the blood flow. 

“Go to your daughter, M. Kubdel,” Marinette smiled. “I’ll be fine here.”

“I can’t just leave you injured like this,” M. Kubdel started but Marinette shook her head, distracting his hands trying to help her. She took the gauze he held and started to apply it to her forehead, showing she would be fine treating herself alone.

“Alix is in danger right now. She needs you,” Marinette urged and after a sigh, M. Kubdel agreed. Marinette felt the small relief as he got up and hurried out. She then turned to Alya, “Now I know you probably want to put this on Noir News so might as well head out there,” she chuckled. 

“Really?” Alya asked.

“I’m the safest I’ll be here in the staff room. And this doesn’t even hurt that much,” Marinette smiled, relaxing Alya.

“Are you sure?” she still asked.

“Of course! We’ll just say a staff member is taking care of me.” Marinette winked and Alya gave her a quick hug before running out after M. Kubdel.

“Are you sure you’ll be okay? I don’t think it’s safe for you to be alone,” Nooroo voiced his own worry aloud once the door shut. Marinette barred the door with her crutch before locking it.

“I’m the safest place to be, not only to hide but also transform,” Marinette grinned and Nooroo brightened in realization.

“I didn’t think of that! Let’s go then!”

“Wings Rise!” Marinette called out and felt the transformation wash over her. Her wound was still bleeding, so Marinette quickly summoned a butterfly and filled it with magic.

“I know who will be the perfect Champion. Go and help Alix,” she said and let the butterfly slip through the crack in the door and towards the source of emotions. Marinette sat down on her chair and once more reapplied the gauze to her head as she called up Chat Noir on her staff, the bulb turning into a screen. There was silence as it rang until he picked up, a small cat paw appearing in the tiny screen of the bulb of the cane.

“Who is this?” he asked. 

“My name is…” Marinette paused for a second before answering, “Húdié. I’m the one who’s been sending the Champions. We got Coccinelle in the Louvre right now. Hope you’re close because I already had to activate my power since he’s holding someone hostage.”

“I’ll be over there right away, thankfully I’m not that far,” he said and hung up. Marinette once again covered her injury as the butterfly reached the center of the emotions.

Concinelle’s bitter determination was one of the strongest emotions in the room, and she smiled at Alix’ scared yet fiery spirit next to him. The strongest emotion though was currently in the room to Marinette’s relief. The activated butterfly landed on the necklace he wore.

“Jalil,” she called out gently so as not to startle the man.

“Who- who are you?” he stammered in confusion.

“I am Húdié. Alix is trapped right now in Coccinelle’s clutches. Will you help me save her?”

“I shall protect my sister with the strength you give me,” Jalil gripped the necklace determinedly.

“Thank you. Then go, Pharaoh, and use your powers to protect your loved ones,” Húdié blinked as his view filled her eyes. 

Everyone was watching the inside of the room from where they were outside of the exhibit, all of them blocked out due to the closed gates minus for Coccinelle, Pharaoh, and Alix all locked in the room. Despite being trapped, Alix was grinning triumphantly at Pharoah unlike Concinelle who's eyes narrowed at the Champion.

“Kick his ass, bro!” she cheered.

“Thoth, give me time!” he roared and his head changed to that of a baboon. He summoned yellow balls of light in his hand and threw them at Coccinelle who dropped Alix to get away from them. The more spheres that Coccinelle dodged the more filled the room, leaving the room increasingly suffocating.

"Make sure Alix can get out," Húdié encouraged and Pharaoh nodded. He went to Alix and took her to the barred entrance where her father was, Chat Noir already standing next to him.

"Seems like you got it!" Chat gave a thumbs up when suddenly something wrapped around the Pharaoh's waist. 

"Watch out, brother!" Alix yelled as Pharaoh was pulled backwards, making room for Coccinelle to move back from the bubbles. He lunged for Alix who ducked quickly and scampered off to the side. Coccinelle tried to go after Alix again but Pharaoh summoned Sekhmet and managed to grab the spotted villain and the two crashed down. There was a tussle and Húdié spotted the object in Coccinelles hand; a can of black spray paint.

“Get back, Pharaoh!” Húdié yelled but was too late, the can spraying half of Pharaoh’s face. He hollered and fell back, half of his vision gone. He tried to wipe his eyes but only made it worse, almost completely blinding him. Panic set into Pharaoh at the lack of sight and he stumbled around, trying to regain himself. 

“Pharaoh, listen to me,” Húdié encouraged and the Champion paused. “I can guide you by sensing their emotions, just follow my instructions. We need to get Alix out of the room and Chat Noir in, so we’ll grab her and open the gate. Ready?” she asked and he nodded.

“Sekhmet, give me strength!” he called out. Húdié helped him grab Alix by telling her where her location was through the emotions swirling around and made it to the doorway where Chat was waiting behind the bars. Pharaoh pulled the bars open enough with his strength for Alix to slip through.

“Now turn around and open your arms!” she ordered and Pharaoh obeyed, Coccinelle crashing right into his chest as he tried to escape through the opening. Pharaoh wrapped his arms around the villain tightly and turned him around to let Chat pull off the earrings.

Coccinelle shifted and everyone gasped in surprise. There was a crackling noise and Pharaoh’s legs gave out with a yell of pain. He crashed down and Coccinelle took off through the small gap. Chat Noir went after in pursuit with Alya right behind.

“Must- go,” Pharaoh stumbled out of the bars and people hurried forward to help.

“When did he steal that taser from the guard?” someone exclaimed. Húdié clutched her hand to her chest painfully, feeling guilty for the Champion’s pain.

“You did well, Pharaoh. Thank you for helping Alix. Your work is done,” she said and after a sigh of defeat, Pharaoh nodded. The butterfly fluttered out of the Champion, reverting Pharaoh back into Alix’s older brother as Húdié’s normal eyesight returned. 

Húdié sighed, leaning back in her seat as the butterfly arrived, and she returned it to the staff before detransforming. The bleeding had slowed but there was now a painful bump on her head that Marinette knew would take a while to go away.

Marinette opened up her backpack, searching for her container as Nooroo rested on her shoulder.

“Are you okay?” Nooroo asked. Marinette smiled and pulled out the container of cream puffs

“I’m fine. Coccinelle is getting stronger which is bothering me though,” Marinette got up and removed the crutch barricading the entrance of the staff room. She then limped to the freezer and pulled out an ice pack and applied it to her head to reduce the swelling.

“We need to find his miraculous soon,” Nooroo agreed. “While you are getting more familiar with your powers, so is he. And the issue is you and Chat Noir aren’t able to properly train so you can’t develop your powers more than you have.”

“Properly train?” Marinette said curiously as she sat down again.

“There is someone here in Paris that can help you with your powers. He’s called the Guardian.”

“He’s the one who selected Chat and I, right?” Marinette asked.

“Yes. But since you both are targets to Coccinelle, especially Chat, if one of you gets captured then Coccinelle will be able to use you to find the location of the Guardian which is why he must be left secret until really needed.”

“I wish he would leave us a sign at least,” Marinette sighed. “I feel like we’re just going to be playing around with Coccinelle with no real leads at this point. It’ll be a never-ending cycle.”

“We’ll figure out something. It’s only been a week and a half since you both started and you’ve already managed to keep a Champion for a little longer than five minutes after I explained how. That’s way better than your first time!”

“You’re right, Nooroo,” Marinette smiled at the soft kwami’s positivity. “We’ll get somewhere eventually. Today he looked like he wanted to figure out what that Ladybug inscription meant. Maybe he needs information about it?”

“That’s what it looked like. I wonder what he needs it for though.”

“Nooroo, why does Coccinelle want the Black Cat miraculous?” Marinette asked and watched the kwami sink onto her knee, somberly nibbling on the cream puff. 

“Nooroo?” Marinette asked in worry.

“That’s-” there were pounding feet and Nooroo zipped into the purse quickly. Marinette shoved the container inside just as the door burst open, Alya panting in excitement.

“You’re not going to believe what happened!”

“What?” Marinette tried not to smile, knowing what she was going to say. That the mysterious hero came and saved Alix before Coccinelle escaped and Chat Noir followed him where they probably had this huge fight before Cocci-

“I got Chat Noir’s history textbook!” Alya interrupted Marinette’s thoughts as the redhead waved a textbook around in the air happily, the pages flapping.

“What?” Marinette asked, completely stunned. The blood drained from her face as the panic of what Alya had just discovered set in.

“Yeah! Chat Noir and Coccinelle were fighting and I noticed that after Coccinelle escaped, Chat Noir picked up a book bag nearby which must’ve been full of his stuff and when he took off the book fell out!”

“Alya that’s not something you should have-” Marinette started to warn but Alya’s rambling drowned out the pig-tailed girl.

“I already uploaded my findings onto Noir News and everything. Then I can hold an interview with him when I give it back. This is going to be the interview of a century!” Alya happily exclaimed just as Alix returned with her brother and father. Marinette could tell Jalil was still disoriented as they sat down, leaning heavily on his father and limping at his sore knee where he had been tased. More people entered the room and they introduced themselves as medics who began to check on Marinette’s head and Jalil. Marinette was too busy to really care with her main focus on Alya’s voice as she excitedly talked to Alix about the book.

“I already told you, Alya. There’s a reason why they have secret identities. You can’t just reveal that information,” Alix’s sighed in annoyance. She seemed bothered about Coccinelle capturing her and then escaping, her negative emotions rumbling off of her as she stood watching Jalil with her arms crossed tightly against her chest.

“I’m not going to tell his identity to everyone, it’ll be between us two,” the pages started to ruffle as Alya started to open the book. Marinette rose up in panic despite the medics working on her head but Alix snatched the book from Alya who stared at the smaller girl offensively.

“That’s not your place to know. Just leave the book here so he can come get it later,” Alix placed the book down on the table right beside Marinette. Alya grumble but her ringing phone distracted her as notifications started to pop up on Noir News. Alix went over to her brother while the medics finished bandaging up Marinette’s head and cleared her once making sure she didn’t have a concussion.

Marinette’s heart pounded as she picked up her backpack and opened it, casually acting like she was looking for something. She glanced around as she put her hand on Chat Noir’s book, and when seeing no one was looking at her, shoved it into her backpack and zipped it up.

Marinette hurried over to Alya, “I’m all cleared,” she faked a smile.

“Great, now let’s grab that- where did it go?” Alya frowned at the place where the book had been.

“What?”

“The book! It was right on the table! I was going to quickly check inside of it-” Alya started but Marinette cut her off with a shake of her head.

“I saw a staff member grab it while I was there and take it to the lost and found. They’re probably expecting Chat Noir to pick it up from them,” Marinette fibbed on the spot, feeling guilty. But Chat Noir’s safety was more important than lying to Alya about the book.

“Darn, maybe I’ll get it again later. And if someone is missing their history textbook tomorrow I’ll know who Chat Noir is,” she voiced triumphantly and the two said bye to Alix before heading out. Marinette could only smile and nod to whatever Alya said as they left, the extra book in her backpack weighing down on her shoulders.

Húdié sat on her lounge outside, ready to call Chat. Even though everything was mostly resolved, the fact that Alya had almost found out who Chat was bothered Marinette like an annoying itch. The butterflies that started to inhabit her garden once she got the miraculous also copied her worry by restlessly flying around and disturbing the air with their fluttering.

“Hello,” Chat picked up on the first ring. Marinette could hear his anxiousness already.

“Hi, Chat Noir. This is Húdié. Sorry for not introducing myself until now.”

“No worries. It’s good to hear from you. Thank you for all of your help recently,” he said politely. 

“I just wanted to check up on you after that fight, and to return your textbook you dropped,” Húdié said and Chat was silent for a long second.

“How did you get it?” he finally breathed.

“Alya, the Noir News reporter, found it while you were leaving the fight. She took it to the staff room in the Louvre and I managed to get it back before she opened it and found out who you were.”

“I thought Coccinelle got it,” he let out a shaky breath of relief. “I transformed and have barely been home because I thought he might attack. I didn’t know what to do.”

“I have it, Chat Noir. It’s alright,” Húdié comforted the hero.

“Thank you for finding it. Where can I meet you?” Chat Noir asked. Húdié paused, looking at her injured ankle. She gave it an experimental wiggle and winced at the pain.

“I can’t meet you in my hero form, so I’ll leave it on the steps of the Notre Dame. You can pick it up in twenty minutes.”

“Why can’t you meet?” Chat Noir asked curiously.

“I’m injured. It’s the reason why I haven’t been with you,” she admitted. “I can’t do much fighting.”

“I’m still thankful for the support you’ve been giving me. Your Champions have already helped me get out of messy situations.”

“Of course, I’m your partner,” Húdié smiled. There was silence on the other line and she grew worried, “Chat Noir?”

“Thank you,” he finally murmured. “It means a lot hearing you say that. You’re amazing with everything you’ve done for me despite not even knowing who I am.”

Húdié blushed and was thankful that he couldn’t see her face. She didn’t know how she would be able to face him in person if he could say things like that with ease.

“Of course. I’ll leave the book out by the Notre Dame then. See you soon. I mean- I won’t be seeing you but you’ll be there within the time that I’ll book there with the be- I mean _be_ there with the _book_! Bye,” she finished and he chuckled a goodbye as she hung up. Marinette groaned as the transformation slipped off of her.

“That was awful,” she covered her face with her hands as Nooroo fluttered by her sympathetically.

“At least you won’t be seeing him in person!” the kwami said positively but it only made Marinette more embarrassed.

“When he actually does see me though he’ll only be reminded how I stuttered,” Marinette got up from her bed and climbed down carefully. She picked up the book and continued her mostly silent trek out of the house without disturbing her parents already sleeping.

When she got out of the house the stuttering was forgotten as she walked towards the Notre Dame, Nooroo flying beside her in the quiet night.

They made it with 5 minutes to spare, so Marinette put the book down in front of the door before hurrying across the street and hiding so Chat wouldn’t see her walking away from the scene and know it was her. 

She waited silently until movement appeared at the top of the cathedral. A baton hit the ground and Marinette watched as Chat slid down it, landing silently on the floor. He really seemed like a cat as he got up from his crouched position and scanned the area warily to see if anyone was around. His gaze passed over her hiding spot twice but he didn’t react to Marinette’s relief.

He spotted the book and picked it up, staring at it for a while before tucking it under his arm and once again using his baton to vault himself up and over the cathedral before disappearing from sight.

Marinette waited a few more minutes just in case then headed home, the quiet soothing as she walked, her crutches tapping the ground with soft clicks as she walked home in the calming night.


	5. Timetaker and Timebraker

Marinette waved after her parents who headed out to celebrate their 20th anniversary, smiling happily at the loving couple. She returned inside and Nooroo flew out of the pocket in her blazer that Marinette had sewn in for the kwami to hang out in if she didn’t have her purse.

“They both are very excited! I love emotions like that!” Nooroo happily chirped and Marinette agreed. Her parents definitely were happy as they left, deeply in love with one another.

Marinette headed upstairs and noticed the poster on her chaise, waiting to be taken out to the race.

“I forgot about the race between Kim and Alix today!” Marinette panicked and checked her phone and sighed in relief when seeing she had enough time to make it over.

“Isn’t Nadja coming today?” Nooroo asked.

“Yes, but we still have another half hour before she does. Actually, I don’t think Nino left yet so I can call him and have him pick it up!” Marinette smiled at her quick thinking. Nooroo fluttered happily as Marinette called Nino who was just about to leave his house to head to the Trocadero.

“What’s up my dude?” Nino asked.

“Would you be able to stop by and pick up the banner on the way to the race? I can't make it since I have to wait for a delivery pick up.”

“Sure thing, be there in a few,” Nino said and Marinette thanked him before hanging up. She picked up the poster and went downstairs with Nooroo resting on her shoulder.

“What’s the race about?” Nooroo asked. Marinette rolled her eyes.

“Kim bet that he can beat Alix’s skates in a race. If Alix wins Kim can’t make any more dares for the rest of the year and if Kim wins then Alix has to give him her skates. It’s obvious that Alix is going to win but Kim is rash as always with his dares. Max said he’s been training so he might do well in the beginning but I doubt he’ll actually succeed,” she said and noticed Nino walking by from the window.

Nooroo slipped under the counter while Nino entered with a wave. Marinette grinned and handed him the poster.

“It’s a shame you can’t make it. Adrien was really excited for you to come.”

“Really?” Marinette asked in surprise. Nino’s eyes widened and Marinette felt a new spark of emotion that she couldn’t recognize. It was definitely relating to anxiousness and nerves though. Guilt? Marinette guessed.

“You know, it’s his first time really hanging out with the class outside of school and was hoping everyone to come,” he said and Marinette nodded sadly. It sounded like Adrien’s father was very restrictive, not letting Adrien out at all to hang out with friends. Not only that, Adrien’s schedule seem far too packed for him to have time to do much besides his work.

“You guys can facetime me and I can watch through the phone. If you guys are doing something later I’ll be able to hang out,” Marinette assured him.

“That reminds me, I’m going to try to host a birthday party for him when I get his dad’s permission. You down to go?”

“I’d love to go! When would it be?”

“I’m planning in a few days so it’ll be right on his birthday. Can you think of anyone else to invite?”

“Probably everyone from class since he knows them the best.”

“Even Chloé?” Nino raised an eyebrow at her. Marinette sighed.

“They are best friends so she won’t arrest you or something along the lines of suffering when she finds out she wasn't invited,” Marinette said and Nino agreed with a roll of his eyes before heading out.

“I might as well do my work out here so I can see when Nadja arrives,” Marinette said, quickly grabbing her things from upstairs before setting up her homework.

Marinette paused as she opened her book, recalling the early flash of emotion with Nino she struggled to understand.

“Nooroo, how long did it take your former holder to master all of these emotions?” she asked. Nooroo’s wings drooped and Marinette felt the kwami’s own emotions. Sadness, a little pride, but once again other emotions she couldn’t place. That same guilty feeling she felt from Nino washed over her from Nooroo.

“I don’t actually remember. My former wielder put a spell on me that prevents me from remembering anything while with him. It’s an ancient curse which the Guardian tried to break but couldn’t since he doesn’t have the book. He did manage to do something so I can feel emotions from the past when I was with my holder. All I remember is rage and grief. The one who now wields the Ladybug Miraculous is not one to take lightly."

Marinette worried at that, wondering if she and Chat Noir would be enough to take down this villain.

Eventually Nadja arrived and Marinette helped her put the cake in the car, Nadja excitedly talking about the new research she was doing to find out more about Chat Noir and how it was related to the events at the museum. She then asked if Marinette could babysit Manon more often since work was getting busier. The young teen agreed and Nadja thanked her before heading out.

Just as Marinette returned to grab her phone to leave, it buzzed and she picked up on the first ring.

“We’re just about to start!” Nino cheered and showed her to the scene. Everyone was cheering and happily waved into the phone to Marinette who smiled and waved back, feeling the high energy.

“We love the poster, Marinette!” everyone shouted and Marinette grinned bashfully as she left, walking over to the race. 

“Thank you. I’m glad everyone likes it!” Marinette smiled.

“Well looks like I win by default though because someone got cold feet,” she heard Kim say and Marinette then noticed that Alix wasn’t present.

“Are you sure you want to keep throwing all of those insults?” everyone turned to see Alix rolling up proudly. “I’m going to finally shut that dumb mouth of yours today.”

“You wish,” Kim said and everyone cheered as they got prepared to race.

Max was about to yell go when Alix had them pause, handing a watch to Alya.

“Keep this safe. It’s a family heirloom so it’s really important to me,” she told Alya before heading back to the spot on the track. Alya quickly handed it off to Adrien so she could record the race. Adrien was now stuck holding the watch and Nino’s phone since the other boy had wanted to wave the banner. 

“I wish you could be here,” Adrien told Marinette through the phone and she recalled what Nino said earlier. Maybe Nino had felt guilty from before because he didn’t want Marinette to know how sad Adrien was.

“Don’t worry, it won’t be the last hang out we have so I’m sure we’ll be able to meet up. I’m heading over right now actually in case anyone else wants to hang out after.”

“Really?’ Adrien asked hopefully.

Marinette nodded with a smile and Adrien’s face lit up.

“I should call Nathalie to see if I can stay for longer! I don’t think I have anything planned for later,” Adrien said thoughtfully but paused when Chloé grabbed the watch from his hand.

“Wow, this thing sure is ugly,” Marinette frowned at Chloé’s nasty tone.

“Give it back to Adrien, Chloé,” Marinette asked but the blonde ignored the girl.

“Please give it back, Chlo,” Adrien tried to open his hand so she could return it but she easily batted his hand away and continued to admire it.

“Chloé that doesn’t belong to you,” Marinette demanded once again for Chloé to return it but she only laughed at Marinette while opening the watch.

A hologram popped out of a woman in a dress holding a watch, presenting it proudly to them. Chloé shrieked and dropped the heirloom. It bounced on the floor and everyone gasped as it rolled right into the road as Alix sped forward on the final lap. She noticed the watch at the last second and tried to stop, but her momentum was too powerful to come to an abrupt halt.

Alix tripped and crashed down, her skate landing right on the watch and cracking it as she tumbled over the finish line. Her head hit the ground hard and Marinette was thankful Alix always wore protection while skating, her helmet taking the brunt of the impact.

The class ran forward to help Alix but she pushed them aside and crawled to her watch, gingerly scooping up the shattered remains as Kim ran up to them, panting. There was silence as Alix carefully clutched the pieces to her chest. Her eyes were burning with fury as she glared at Alya.

“I told you to keep a hold on it! I told how you important this is to me!” she shouted.

“I gave it to Adrien!” Alya said defensively. Adrien fumbled with an excuse how Chloé took it from him but it fell on deaf ears, Alix skating away in anger with the remains of the watch still in her hands.

Everyone watched the retreating figure with guilt as Marinette hung up the call, sprinting to the Trocadero. She winced at the pain in her ankle that was still hurting slightly but she continued, making it there just in time as Alix rode towards her.

“Alix,” she huffed and the girl stared at her in surprise before bitterly turning and trying to roll away. Marinette continued after her.

“Go away,” Alix snapped.

“I know you’re upset but I’m sure your dad will understand-” Marinette started but Alix turned angrily to Marinette.

“Understand? My dad barely gave this to me a half hour ago and I’ll have to give it back to him broken! He’s going to think I’m just an irresponsible kid and won’t trust me with anything! I know he doesn’t like it when I’m skating or doing my wall art because it’s dangerous but I still try to keep my grades up and show him that I’m responsible!” Alix’s lip started to quiver and Marinette felt Alix’s insecurities rise up, the guilt within the skater increasing. “I just wanted to show him that I could take care of something important and I messed it up.”

Marinette put a comforting hand on Alix, “We all make mistakes. None of us are perfect. Your dad respects you for what you do and I’m certain he knows how responsible you are since he’s seen how you’re extremely careful in the museum full of important artifacts. Sure the watch got damaged right after you got it, but you did your best to make sure that it was going to be safe beforehand since you knew the risks of riding with it. How about we both go and talk to him about it, I’m sure everything will turn out well.”

“You would come with me?” Alix asked and Marinette nodded confidently. Alix sniffed and wiped her eyes that had started to tear up, her anger and distress receding to Marinette’s relief. Marinette pulled out her handkerchief from her purse and held it out.

“You can put the pieces in here so they don’t get lost,” she offered and Alix put the pieces carefully into the handkerchief that Marinette carefully bundled up and tucked into her purse, Nooroo smiling happily at her as she did so.

The two started to head out when there was a shout from behind. They turned to see everyone frantically pointing above them where Coccinelle was standing above the steps, yo-yo already spinning and being thrown at the two of them.

Marinette pushed Alix who tumbled down just as the familiar whirring rang through the air, wrapping around Marinette instead of the skater. Marinette was yanked up into the air with a scream as Coccinelle pulled back, flying over the students and into Coccinelle’s waiting arms.

“You,” he grumbled as he grabbed her. Marinette tried to wiggle out but the yo-yo was tight around her, constricting any movement.

“Let her go!” Alix yelled as she rode back to the group of students who were watching in horror.

“Well I didn’t want her anyway, I wanted you,” he freed Marinette with a rough push while he went after Alix. The girl turned and started to skate away, expertly avoiding the spotted villain on her tail.

“Are you okay?” Nooroo asked. Marinette nodded, getting up and running off to find a hiding place quickly in some bushes nearby.

“For now we need to worry about Alix. Speaking of her, I’ve got the perfect Champion in mind. Wings Rise!” Marinette grinned. 

She transformed and Húdié blessed her butterfly, wishing it off over the crowd of students that were still there, unsure what to do.

Meanwhile Alix and Coccinelle were still racing around the Trocadero. Just as Coccinelle threw his yo-yo at Alix’s skates and sent her tumbling to the ground, Chat Noir appeared and landed between the two of them, baton raised.

"You're late," Alix sighed in relief and exhaustion from all the skating she had done.

"Sorry, it's just how I _roll_ ," Chat Noir grinned mischievously and began to fight with Coccinelle just as the butterfly landed on one of Alix's skates.

"Alix, can you-" Húdié was interrupted by Alix.

"Kick Coccinelle's ass? You betcha," Alix grinned. Húdié blinked in surprise.

"Well that was easy. Then let's go, Timetaker, and take back the time lost," Húdié said and Alix transformed with a confident grin.

Chat Noir was furiously dueling with Coccinelle when the villain managed to land a heavy kick to his chest, knocking the wind out of Chat Noir for a second. He tried to breath but could only wheeze, stumbling slightly as Coccinelle approached.

The spotted villain didn’t get much farther as Timetaker sped towards him, forcing him to jump out of the way.

"So you wanted to mess with me, little bugger?" Timetaker taunted, "Let's teach you a lesson in why no one messes with the Kubdel family." Coccinelle dodged Timetaker who reached out for him. Coccinelle was an expert weaver though, avoiding the recovered hero and Champion with ease.

“Lucky-” Coccinelle was cut off as someone yelled from above and he was forced to roll away as they struck down where he had been standing. Everyone turned to greet the newcomer, Húdié glaring back at the spotted villain. Húdié's brooch chirped as she grabbed Timetaker's hand. 

"Everyone grab a hold! Chat Noir, make sure he doesn’t get to summon his Charm!" she yelled.

Nathaniel was the first to reach forward and grab Timetaker's hand. There was a beeping noise from Timetaker's skates and they started to glow

"I want to help you, Alix," he said and Húdié smiled. The other students that had been hiding now rushed forward while Chat Noir kept Coccinelle back.

"Chat Noir!" Húdié extended her hand and Chat leaped back from Coccinelle. She looked into his green eyes that stared back at her curiously as his hand slipped into hers, holding it tightly.

Timetaker's skates were shining brightly now as she let go and began spinning in quick circles around the group, speeding up until they were surrounded in lighting green and black blur. The wind whipped in their face and the group holding hands closed their eyes as the dust rose up. Húdié's brooch beeped urgently as her transformation started to end, purple light fluttering over her as she hoped she wasn't discovered.

When she blinked her eyes open, Marinette found herself on the sidewalk, walking while facetiming Adrien.

"What the-" Adrien said in surprise through the phone.

"Grab the watch!" Marinette exclaimed as Chloé dropped it. Adrien lunged for it with extremely quick reflexes and caught it before it hit the ground. Adrien handed it to Alix who embraced it tightly to her chest, sighing in relief. 

Marinette hung up and quickly found a place to hide, transforming into Húdié before hurrying towards the Trocadero.

Everyone was standing there in confusion, trying to find out what had happened exactly. Some of the kids that hadn’t grabbed a hold of Timetaker didn’t notice anything different while the others that had grabbed hold now had no idea what had occurred. Alix especially was confused, looking around for Marinette but not finding the pigtailed girl anywhere in sight.

“Where’s Marinette?” Alix asked in worry, remembering that Coccinelle had grabbed her.

“I just hung up with her… Do you think we went back in time?” Adrien asked. The others started to realize what had happened.

“That means Coccinelle is going to come and take Alix!” Nathaniel pointed out and everyone looked to where the spotted villain would appear on the steps above them.

“Alix you need to hide!” Adrien urged but the girl stood firm.

“No, I’m standing my ground. I was a Champion once and I’ll do it again if I can stop Coccinelle,” she glared just as Coccinelle landed on the top of the steps to the Trocadero.

Before he could make a move though, he was struck from behind, causing him to stumble. Everyone gasped as they saw Húdié for the second time today as she landed in front of the students to protect them.

“Take cover, I’ll hold him off,” she said and the students took no time in racing away. All except for Alix.

“Alix it’s not safe-”

“I want to be your Champion again. My watch is fine so now I can kick his ass without a worry,” Alix cracked her knuckles. Húdié stared at the girl before sighing in amusement.

“I will in a second, I just need a moment to focus,” Húdié said.

“Purrhaps I could provide you with some _time_?” Chat landed next to the two of them with a grin. Húdié gave him a grateful smile.

“That would be wonderful,” she thanked him right before he charged towards Coccinelle. She opened her cane and carefully picked up her butterfly, giving it a gentle kiss.

“Go my dear, and bless Alix with strength to protect herself,” she said and the soft pink butterfly landed on Alix’s watch in her hand. It was fascinating to see the pink butterfly marking in the shape of her mask cover Alix’s face as they grew connected.

“Shall we?” Húdié asked with a smile.

“Let’s do this,” Alix grinned.

“Then let’s put a stop to his terror, Timebraker,” Húdié said and they rushed in to help Chat Noir.

They all watched as Coccinelle fled the scene having already used up his Charm and extremely close to detransforming with Chat Noir hot on his heels. Meanwhile Timebraker let the butterfly leave her, allowing for Húdié to catch the butterfly and escape right before she detransformed. When she was safely hidden, she opened up her purse and handed Nooroo a creme puff, exhaling in relief. Her muscles and body ached as if she had worked out a tremendous amount, but it wasn’t too uncomfortable.

“You’re improving far faster now,” Nooroo said with a tired smile. “You can keep your form after making a Champion almost over six minutes.”

“It’s not hurting you, is it?” Marinette asked in worry but Nooroo shook his head.

“Usually it makes the wearer more tired so you might be feeling more exhausted as of late,” Nooroo pointed out Marinette’s current state.

“That makes sense why I’m so tired,” she agreed and the two sat there for a bit to take a small breather. Marinette eventually got up and checked back at the Trocadero to find everyone had already left the scene to get to safety. She decided it would be best to head home for the day, relieved that the watch was fixed and Alix would hopefully no longer be targeted by Coccinelle now that he knew that she was ready to become a Champion if needed. The Kubdel family was safe for now.

Marinette headed home in peace, thankful that Chat Noir was there to make sure that Coccinelle would hopefully reveal his identity by following him to the last second. She wondered if Chat knew anything about the situation. If not maybe she could meet up with him and talk to him. Even get to know him now that her ankle was healed. Marinette was surprised how ready she was to run into the fight despite never having done that before. It felt... pretty good. Fighting side by side with Chat Noir was also exhilarating and brought a giddy smile to her face. She was fighting along side Chat Noir!

“Nooroo, how would you feel if I went to meet Chat Noir tonight? Or maybe not tonight but in the future? I really want to meet him in person and talk about Coccinelle,” she said as they entered the empty bakery, her parents still on their date.

“I think it would be a great idea! Then you can confess your feelings to him!” Nooroo beamed.

“MY WHAT?!” Marinette squawked, panicked.

“Yes! I can feel it whenever you’re with him!”

“No no no I can’t have feelings for him! I need to keep it professional! I mean sure he saved me and kissed my hand and is extremely sweet and- your giggling isn’t helping!” Marinette whined as Nooroo sat on the counter top, trying to cover his mouth.

“I’m sorry! It’s just that your emotions for him are very strong despite what you’re saying,” Nooroo smothered the giggles but his smile was still too wide. “I think it’s cute that you have feelings for him. He’s a very gentle soul and I think it would be great for you to be with him.”

“But we have to be professional!” Marinette stressed. “If the public sees our relationship as something more, who knows what Coccinelle might do to us! Especially me! I just started fighting so I’m a liability, and if I get captured then Chat Noir will want to give up his miraculous to protect me which can’t happen whatsoever!”

“Getting caught wouldn’t be good,” Nooroo agreed, still smiling as he watched his holder pace around stressfully.

“Exactly!” Marinette exclaimed.

“But I think you should still meet with him. He needs the information you have so far,” Nooroo said and after much internal deliberating, Marinette agreed. The kwami hummed happily as he watched the girl wearily trod up the steps, following after her with a flutter of his wings.

Húdié stood at the base of the Eiffel Tower, terrified to go any higher. She paced, muttering anxiously to herself.

“Nooroo said I can grip the walls and climb like a butterfly. I just won’t look down and I’ll be fine! It’ll be fine!” she repeated and started to make her way up the side of the tower to the spot where Chat Noir and her planned to meet at the very top. He said it was one of the most beautiful views in Paris at night and very exclusive since only they could get up there. But to get up there in the first place?

“It’s fine it’s fine it’s fine,” Húdié repeated under her breath the higher she climbed. She made it to the first level and exhaled a breath of relief. One down, she glanced up to see the tip still extremely far away.

“I can’t do this,” she turned to climb down but hesitated, knowing that Chat was going to be up there waiting for her alone. She could just call him and tell him to come down a level, but she really wanted to see the view from up there with him. How serene it would be just the two of them looking down at their beautiful home. Just the two of them.

Húdié made a half groan half whine in the back of her throat as she pulled herself up and continued to climb up the side of the wall, extremely thankful her bug-like suit gave her the ability to do this. She didn’t have a fancy yo-yo like Coccinelle or an extending baton like Chat to help her up, so she was forced to crawl up like a rock climber since she didn’t trust herself completely to jump around like she had seen the other two do.

By the time she pulled herself onto the second level, her arms were burning. Húdié panted as she rolled awkwardly on the floor of the second level, resting for a minute. From here though it would be much easier to hop from beam to beam to reach the third. It would also get her more experienced with traveling around in the suit. But the thought of getting up and moving made Húdié want to give up and take a nap.

The image of Chat Noir sitting up on the top alone waiting for her was the only thing that made her drag herself up and climbed up to the middle of the tower where the cross beams were far closer. She now was able to jump and grip the beams tightly before launching herself onto the next one not too far away. Húdié kept it up and found it rather easy the higher she went and the closer the beams got. The only downside was that she was exhausted by the time she reached the top level, having never been this physically active before.

Húdié barely had enough strength to pull herself onto the last level and her knees gave out when they touched solid ground. She laid there for a long time wheezing as she felt the cold air dry her sweat, bitterly reminding her that her hair was most likely ruined. Húdié sat up and began to adjust the ribbons in her hair when she noticed the sparkling lights. Curious, she stood up and gazed at the city far below her, the lights twinkling brightly below her like mini stars.

She gazed in wonder, her heavy breathing lost in the breeze that blew past as she stared out at the vast city below her.

“I come here to think,” she turned quickly to see a pair of green cat eyes watching her from the shadows. Húdié’s heart hitched in her chest as he stared at her for a long second before coming out of the shadows.

His smile was gentle as he approached and came next to her on the rails, leaning on it while looking at the city below. She could feel that his heart was at peace here, as calm as the breeze blowing past.

“Do you come here often?” she asked, watching him lean forward more and stare directly below them. Húdié followed his gaze, gripping the rail tighter when realizing just how high up they were. If she were to fall she wouldn’t be able to catch herself. Why couldn’t she have wings on this suit?

“I do when I’m stressed out with my normal civilian life. I don’t get out much often so it’s nice to have some liberties. Up here I feel like I can do anything,” he breathed and turned to face her with a sheepish smile. “Sorry about the climb though. I didn’t realize you don’t have anything to help you get up here.”

“You saw all of that?” she squeaked and Chat Noir’s guilty amusement leaked through his nod.

“You did very well though climbing all the way up here!” he still tried to encourage while Húdié moaned, hiding her face in embarrassment.

“I look like such a mess right now,” she mumbled and Chat Noir tried to comfort her.

“No no you look great! I love the suit! You look fine!” he complimented, only making her face heat up more as giddiness took over. He was complimenting her!

 _Be professional!_ her inner self screamed.

“Ah, um, thank you,” Húdié forced out as she moved her hands away from her face. She fiddled with her cane and the two stood there, Chat’s intent staring making her more flustered. Chat chuckled.

“I’m sorry. I’m still just taking in the fact that you’re actually here. I hadn’t seen you before at all, even when we talk on the phone.”

“That’s because my little receiver is so tiny I can’t see anything,” she showed him, popping open the cane to reveal a white butterfly. It flew out and landed on Chat’s nose who stared at it wide-eyed. Húdié giggled and watched as it flew onto it’s holder, landing comfortably on her shoulder where Nooroo normally sat. Chat Noir stared at the butterfly with wide eyes.

“What do you call them?” he asked. Húdié thought about it.

“I only have one since I don’t know how to get more of these special butterflies, but this one is my little dear,” she giggled as the butterfly fluttered its’ wings, knowing that she was talking about them. “It’s only a rascal when I’m trying to catch it again. It took forever to find this fella after it escaped during Stoneheart. Thankfully I have a small butterfly garden at my house that attracted it and allowed for me to catch it.”

Chat chuckled and Húdié giggled, smiling warmly at one another for a long second. They were interrupted when the butterfly flew off from her shoulder and landed on her hand where the cane was.

“Back to the screen,” she said with a giggle, embarrassed that she had been staring. Chat Noir chuckled and showed her how to adjust the screen so now it worked like a phone. Not only that, he set it up so she could see his face during calls rather than his paw print icon.

“Wow this is amazing! How did you learn all of this?” she asked.

“I just mess with it since I usually have nothing better to do when I’m transformed. I normally patrol around and keep an eye out on my free time.”

“You patrol?” she asked and he nodded.

“See if there’s anyone that needs help, be there to respond in case Coccinelle appears. It’s good to be prepared.”

“Have you gotten any leads on who he is?” she asked but Chat Noir only sighed, slumping over the rail.

“I always hunt him down but lose him the second right before he transforms. He could be any one which is worse. I don’t know who I’m trying to follow. And I have no idea what he’s after,” he frowned, tail twitching in slight irritation as he glared at the lights below.

“I don’t know much either but here’s what I’ve been thinking,” Húdié started, Chat Noir listening with full attention as the city lights twinkled below, sparking as much as they could before the morning could snatch up their brightness.


	6. Fitting In

Adrien finished getting ready and started to walk downstairs, thoughts on the conversation he had with Húdié last night. She seemed like a trustworthy person and it was rather fascinating to finally meet her after the past few attacks from Coccinelle. It was actually better to have her there in person since she was a quick thinker and always knew what to do. Every time Coccinelle had been out when she was there, he always had to flee in the end.

Not only that, she was extremely observant, pointing out the things that Coccinelle was currently focused on. His main target was the Kubdel family in order to get information from an Egyptian scroll that Húdié said looks like it had hints of Miraculous existing during that time. Húdié figured that because they had provided a strong defense for the Kubdel family, Alix even fighting alongside them, Coccinelle might stand down but they still needed to be on guard and ready to protect the Kubdels.

The two of them then sat up there wondering what was his next move. Húdié said that he might be looking for more information on the Miraculous such as the Guardian that Nooroo, her kwami, had mentioned who holds all of the information of the Miraculous but was hiding since it was too dangerous lest he get captured. They both figured that Coccinelle would probably start trying to find out their secret identities so they both had to keep their miraculous hidden from everyone, which is why Adrien now walked with his ring in his pocket connected to a chain that was tied around his belt loop just in case it slipped out. Meanwhile, she said she would keep her Miraculous pinned to the inside pocket of her blazer and asked if he wanted her to make a pocket for his ring too. It was tempting, but risky in case she recognized the clothes since it seemed like she was a seamstress. Who else would wear  _ Gabriel _ clothing on a daily basis?

Adrien entered the dining room where his twin brother was already eating breakfast, gray clothing neatly pressed and blond hair combed back. His eyes were similar to their father in terms of blue coloring, but Félix also picked up the tint of silver from their grandfather’s gray eyes. Those eyes currently glanced up at Adrien without any indifference.

“You were out late last night. I didn’t think you were coming home,” Félix commented lightly as he poked his fruit with a fork. Adrien glanced around wildly, fearing that Nathalie was right there.

“She’s talking to Father right now,” Félix answered Adrien’s frantic movement, placing a grape into his mouth. Félix watched his brother, looking interested with the nerves the twin displayed.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Adrien answered stiffly, sitting down at the table. As soon as he got seated, the chef came out with his meal and presented it to him before returning to the kitchens.

“Really? So I should’ve just told Nathalie then I was dreaming when I didn’t find you in your bed at one in the morning when I got up to get some water?” he continued to eat.

“You what?” Adrien paled. But the door opening stopped Adrien from saying anything else as Nathalie appeared, her notepad in hand. Adrien sat, heart hammering as he gripped his fork tightly while Nathalie took her place behind the head chair where she could be seen by both of the twins seated across from one another.

“Adrien,” Nathalie said and his heart jumped into his throat. “Today you have a shoot after your fencing practice. After that you and Félix will have a joint Chinese lesson where you both will practice your communication skills before supper. You have an hour break until dinner with the Bourgeois so I suggest getting ahead on your school work.”

Adrien nodded, starting to eat as he tried to hold back the exhale of relief as Nathalie turned her attention to Félix. Of course Félix had been joking. Sometimes it was hard to determine whether the twin was trying to be humorous or not.

“Today after your homeschooling you will have your violin lessons before joining Adrien for your Chinese lessons until your break,” she finished but Félix frowned.

“What about the work at the company?” Félix asked Nathalie. Unlike Adrien who had no defined career in the future, Félix was already set to lead the company under Gabriel’s wishes. He was to take up Gabriel’s position once the older man deemed his son ready, already having him interning at the company a year ago.

“Today you will be with me filling out paperwork to attend Françoise Dupont,” Nathalie said, both twins starting at her in surprise.

“What?” they replied in unison. Nathalie finally looking slightly uncomfortable, if you call the tiny crease in her mouth that appeared slightly.

“I don’t want to go to his school,” Félix stated, glancing at Adrien before continuing, “I want to get my private lessons here.”

“Seeing how Adrien’s social health has improved since attending school, your father figures it will be an important way for you to establish connections and learn proper communication skills with your peers. Building connections early on in your career is an important task in upholding a reputation amongst others and encouraging more people who deem you as someone respectable to purchase your products,” Nathalie said. Adrien still stared at her, jaw slack and anger rising as every word soaked in.

“I’m more comfortable here. You can’t take me away from that,” Félix tried to persuade her but by Nathalie’s expression it wasn’t working.

“I spent so long trying to get into that school and he gets a free pass?” Adrien finally said quietly, glaring at Nathlie who looked at him. Now she looked uncomfortable, her gaze falling and frown deepening as the guilt rose up.

“I struggled to make friends just to be happy and have someone I could talk to and Père never let me do that. I had to disobey his wishes just so I could meet someone that wasn’t assigned to me or forced upon me and  _ he _ gets a free pass after all I’ve been through?” Adrien stood up, no longer hungry, “I’m going to school.”

“Adrien-” Félix stood but Adrien ignored him, opening the door and storming into his room to grab his bag and leave. There was no interference as he made his way back down the steps fuming and roughly opened the front door where the Gorilla was waiting for him.

He sat in the car glaring out the window. Of course Félix would get a free pass even without asking. It seemed like between the two twins, Félix always got what he wanted. Even right now when Félix didn’t want to go to school he got what Adrien had been trying to pursue for months in a matter of seconds.

Adrien took deep breaths as they approached school and thanked the Gorilla as he climbed out, closing the door as calmly as he could behind him. Once entering the courtyard he immediately noticed the small crowd of students, many of them from his class. Curiosity got the better of his sour mood and he went over, catching what they were saying as he approached.

“Dude you looked so cool fighting Coccinelle!” Nathaniel exclaimed. “And you were able to become a Champion twice!”

“And your watch got fixed which was pretty sweet,” Juleka added.

“Poor Marinette though, has anyone been in contact with her? All I remember was seeing her get thrown to the side but then after we went back in the past she didn’t appear again,” Rose said. Adrien grew worried at that. If anything bad had happened to her...

“She’s fine. I ended up chatting with her later and she told me that by the time she got there everyone had already left due to the fight. She doesn't even remember being thrown since she wasn't with us when we went back in time,” Nino said with a wave of his hand and glanced around. “I’m actually surprised she’s not here since she’s always one to wake up super early, you know with her being a baker’s daughter and all.”

“I messaged her but she’s not responding. We were going to meet up this morning and talk about Noir News but she didn’t show up,” Alya huffed, glancing at her phone. The bell rang and everyone headed to class.

Adrien worried as he got seated, the pigtailed girl still not in sight. It wasn’t like her to be this late. What if something had happened to her? Coccinelle had already been intercepted by her a few times from what Alya mentioned at the museum and then yesterday. It terrified him to think that she could become a target just for being the selfless and kind person she was. She was so amazing risking herself to help other people, even if she didn’t know them like when they had first met. 

He had been losing the fight against Coccinelle who was far more powerful than he was in terms of strength, kicking him around like a bouncy ball. When he crashed down in front of her, she had looked so terrified and in pain, but that didn’t stop her from throwing herself onto Coccinelle. She not only managed to save him but also to return a miraculous. Then she asked him if he was okay rather than worrying about herself. She was incredible.

“Alright everyone, get to your seats!” Mlle. Bustier called out as the bell rang. Just as the door closed behind her, it was thrown open to reveal a haggard Marinette. Her eyes had bags under them and her normal pigtails were pulled back into a messy ponytail as she hurried into her seat with several apologies while the class chuckled.

Adrien heard Alya as Marinette got situated, pulling out her things quickly and as quietly as possible.

“What happened? You look like a mess,” Alya said playfully.

“It was a long night,” Marinette murmured and class started. Adrien breathed a sigh of relief, glad that she was alright. Well, mostly alright by the sounds of it.

When the bell rang for the next period, Nino grinned at Adrien once they were free to talk.

“So your birthday is coming up right? I heard someone mention it yesterday in some magazine on you.”

“Yeah, it’s in a couple of days,” Adrien admitted.

“We should do something for you! How about a party or something?”

“My father would never permit that,” Adrien shook his head, sighing as he recalled the events from today with Félix.

“How about I go try to convince him and see what he says? I’m sure I could make it work,” they paused when hearing a huge yawn from behind.

“You doing good, Mari? You look exhausted,” Nino asked the girl behind them.

“Yeah, I’ve been working out more and last night was hard to sleep so my body gave up on me this morning and I ended up oversleeping,” she chuckled.

“Working out more? Doing what?” Alya asked as they made their way out of class.

“Um, a lot of running. My dad also has me lifting stuff in the bakery so my arms are super sore,” Marinette stifled another yawn, pulling out a thermos and taking a sip of it.

“What kept you up last night?” Adrien asked. That was the wrong thing to do since it turned her attention right to him, her blue eyes staring right into his soul. He could feel his heart freeze and he forced himself to relax as she blinked at him in surprise, as if realizing he was there.

“A cat,” she said, still staring at him.

“A cat?” they echoed in confusion. Marinette realized what she said and her cheeks suddenly got rosy.

“Yeah, he was um. Talking a lot. You know. Meowing. It was hard to sleep,” she fumbled with her words and Adrien wondered if she truly was okay.

“You can take a nap during lunch or after school,” Nino suggested and she nodded.

“And we can stop by your house and eat some of your goodies?” Alya added with a grin and Marinette laughed. 

“Not today after school. I’m babysitting so I’ll need to keep all of my attention on her today. I don’t know if I’ll have the energy though because she’s always extremely hyper and sneaky. Not only that it’s so hard to say no to her with her big puppy eyes,” she said. Nino and Alya both chuckled, knowing looks on their faces.

“Chris usually whines a ton until my parents give in,” Nino shook his head.

“And the twins always seem to get what they want, meanwhile I’m left dealing with their tantrums,” Alya rolled her eyes and the two of them got seated in their assigned spots in Mlle. Mendeleiev.

Adrien took his seat besides Marinette, sighing as he opened up his backpack while recalling the dispute earlier this morning. It seems like all families have that one sibling that’s favored more than the rest.

“Are you okay?” Marinette asked and Adrien blinked in surprise, pencil frozen in his hand.

“Yeah?” he replied back uncertainty.

“You’re very quiet today. Is there something on your mind?” she asked in worry. Adrien tried not to think too much about how she managed to notice his slight distress in the morning. She was just a good and caring friend looking out for him. There was no way she would see anything else in him.

After convincing himself not to overreact to his own feelings, Adrien smiled.

“I’m fine,” he answered. “Just a little distracted today.”

It didn’t seem to appease Marinette, only making her frown deepen. Now Adrien grew nervous. How did she know he was lying? Did she know he was lying? Was she going to call him out? He already knew that she was one to confront situations and he didn’t really want to talk about this right now as class was just about to start.

Instead Marinette broke out into the warmest smile ever, sweeter than any dessert he has ever had in his entire life. It was gentle and understanding and so many different signs of kindness at once that Adrien couldn’t do anything else besides blink dumbly.

“I see. If there is anything really bothering you though don’t be afraid to talk about it with me. I just want to make sure you’re okay. I can make a good cup of hot chocolate that can make any gloomy day better,” she giggled with playful smile.

Adrien’s mind blanked. He dropped his pencil and it bounced off the lab table onto the floor. As he dove down to get it, he nearly slipped off of the tall chair, causing it to make a commotion as it rattled around. Adrien fumbled with his pencil and grabbed the chair, slowly rising up as everyone turned to watch him.

“Are you done, M. Agreste?” Mlle. Mendeleiev gave him a pointed look. Everyone including Marinette chuckled and Adrien nodded before getting into his seat, his face burning in both embarrassment and flushed at how cute Marinette’s giggle was.

He couldn’t help but glance at her as everyone attention was turned to the front. Marinette noticed and looked back at him with another smile before focusing on her notes. Adrien adjusted his pencil as he forced himself to focus on the class, trying to still his pounding heart. He started to take notes but paused as Marinette passed him a slip of paper. Adrien curiously opened it to see that it was a little icon of her smiling with a motivational cheer, most likely hoping to make him feel better.  His face went scarlet and all hopes of concentration were destroyed by the little cheering Marinette that rested innocently on top of his half finished notes.

Adrien got in the car on a much better note, having hung out with his friends and then doing well in fencing practice. By the time he got home, the morning was completely forgotten until he walked by Félix’s room where the twin was glaring down at the empty book bag on his bed that Nathalie most likely just purchased for him.

Adrien’s mood went south as he stared at it, but then noticing his brother’s tight fist made Adrien soften. His brother hadn’t asked for this at all and it was wrong to be mad at him for it. Not only that, Félix preferred being alone, not surrounded by other people like Adrien needed.

“Deciding how many books you’ll need to pack?” Adrien asked playfully, trying to lighten up the mood. Félix jolted and whipped his head to the door, only to relax when seeing his brother. He resumed his normal glare at the bag.

“I don’t want to go.”

“Père said-”

“-that it'll be beneficial for me to make new acquaintances to establish a solid foundation in the future. But forcing me to do this is detrimental to my mental health.”

“And let me guess, he told you not going is detrimental to your social health,” Adrien said and Félix’s silence confirmed it. Adrien entered the room and sat down on the desk chair.

“This is ridiculous,” Félix finally muttered before starting to fill his bag with the school supplies on the bed that Adrien hadn’t noticed before from his position at the door.

“It’s not that bad. I’ll introduce you to my friends since you’ll most likely be in my class. Nino’s pretty chill to hang out with and while Alya is really friendly, she’s great to get along with. Marinette’s amazing so I’m sure you’ll like her right away.”

“Now I’ll be able to put a name to all of these faces,” Félix said and Adrien smiled as he started to spin around on the chair, glad his brother’s mood was starting to improve.

“It’ll be fun. The material isn’t too hard and they have a pretty big library which I know you’ll be in all the time. You might even forget how bad it is,” Adrien joked.

“Will Chloé be there?” Félix suddenly asked, making Adrien pause.

“Of course she will be, she’s the one that told me to go in the first place. What’s wrong with that?”

“Nothing,” Félix said, the happy mood from before clipped as shortly as it had bloomed. Even if he didn’t say it, Adrien knew what his brother was implying. Both Félix and Chloé always seemed tense around one another. Chloé doing something that would make Félix comment about it and then Chloé would get upset. Adrien never understood what the problem was between them two.

“She’s not that bad in school. Sure she gets annoyed when I don’t hang out with her but that’s most likely because she wants to spend more time with me now that I’m available.”

“She’s never respected anyone once, not even her own father,” Félix recalled with a serious look towards Adrien, as if hoping he would get the point.

That point flew over Adrien’s head as he shook it, “She’s never been rude to me before. Maybe it's just how she presents herself that makes people think she's a negative person.”

“How about the other students? Are they close friends with her?” Félix replied and Adrien opened his mouth to defend Chloé, but nothing came out. Instead, the image of Chloé sticking gum onto Marinette’s chair and laughing at Marinette when she had fallen in her crutches rose up in his mind. Chloé mocking the girl who not only saved his life the day before, but all of Paris in result.

“She will never learn,” Félix resumed putting his things in his bag while Adrien closed his mouth, unable to defend Chloé. But they were friends and she was always nice to him. Sure she was clingy, but that was because she struggled to make friends.

_ And why was that? _ A little voice nagged in his head. Adrien pushed the voice away and focused on watching his brother prepare and hoping nothing else would happen regarding Chloé.

Unfortunately, the topic of Chloé was not resolved for the day with the dinner with the Bourgeois happening a few hours later. André wanting to meet with Gabriel for “old times sake” when in reality everyone knew it was because of the upcoming elections that were going to be held in a month. André was going to with his huge backing of rich followers and funding, but he still wanted to secure that the people that did follow him would continue to do so.

“Audrey couldn’t make it?” Gabriel noted as the group ate. André sat at the head of the table with Gabriel to his left, making it more direct for them to discuss. Félix sat next to his father and Adrien sat next to his twin, Chloé across from Adrien so they could both talk.

“She’s busy in London again with one of her shows before heading to New York to work at her company there for a bit before returning home to visit. I know she said she’ll be present for one of your shows you’re planning in the future, correct?” André asked.

“Yes, and I’ll be hosting a small competition at my son’s school so the students can get some experience in the fashion industry. Not many students are interested in that kind of work as of late, but Félix has taken a liking to the company so I’ve been educating him so he can pick it up.

“That’s very impressive. Congratulations, Félix,” André said kindly but Félix portrayed no emotion as he thanked the mayor. André fidgeted nervously as he thought of the next thing to ask.

“Those heroes out there are really something, aren’t they?” André managed to think of a new topic of discussion. Adrien actually perked up at this, excited to talk about something that interested him.

“I’m relieved that they’re not causing any further damage to any parts of Paris. That Chat Noir character ended up destroying one of my shops when they were first fighting. Other than that though it’s been relatively peaceful which you must be happy about,” Gabriel said and André nodded.

“There has been a ton of support from the people for these Chat Noir and Húdié heroes that it’s been helping me run my campaign.”

“Have the heroes mentioned they will be supporting you?” Gabriel asked in interest. André fiddled with his hands before taking a sip of water.

“Not exactly but I’m trying to get into contact with them. It’s difficult since they always have to run off before I can get a word in. I might try to have Nadja get a personal word for me when she speaks with them since she's trying to get an interview with them. There's also a girl from Chloé's school who made a blog about the heroes called Noir News so I'm interested in talking with her to see if she can't get me access to the heroes."

"You mean Alya Cesaire? That nobody?" Chloé finally interjected. "Her blog is ridiculous and poorly made. I could make a better one and get the heroes to definitely respond to me."

"That would be fascinating to see, Mlle. Bourgeois," Gabriel said with interest and Chloé huffed with pride. 

"Of course, I always do everything perfect," she said confidently.

"I must thank you for encouraging Adrien to go to school. He has enjoyed it well enough that Félix will also be attending," Gabriel said. Rather than lifting Chloé's spirits, she looked at Félix in contempt who stared back coldly.

"That's wonderful! When does he start?" André asked, oblivious to the teens.

"Tomorrow," Gabriel said and Félix nodded, him and Chloé still glaring at each other from across the table. 

"I'm excited to gain new experiences at Collège Françoise Dupont," Félix said, narrowing his eyes. Finally Chloé looked back down at her food, bitterly eating. Félix followed suit after one more look and Adrien glanced between the two before resuming his meal, worried what tomorrow would have in store.

Turns out Adrien’s worries weren’t the issue for the twins as they got out of the car the next day. They decided the night before to arrive early so Adrien could show Félix around before class started. It was quieter than normal as they walked around, Adrien pointing out the class room and library which Félix took some time to admire before continuing on towards the cafeteria. They heard chattering from another room down the hall and both looked at each other in surprise before heading over to check out the noise.

In the room, art covered the wall from graffiti to posters and paintings. Busts and statues filled the room and the tables were covered in art supplies. It was chaotic and cluttered with everything colorful, making Adrien a little dazed.

Marinette was pacing back and forth in the center of the room while Nathaniel sat at a table across from her, watching her as he talked.

“I’m telling you it’s a good color match up. I don’t think you should shut down your idea that quickly,” Nathaniel was trying to explain before Marinette made an exasperated noise as she momentarily paused her circling.

“It makes it look like a clown by clashing such bright colors together! I don’t want it to scream ‘look at me I’m a mess and don’t know how primary colors work!’” Marinette imitated someone that sounded oddly similar to André Bourgeois. The twins watched Marinette sit down on the chair where her notebook was laid out and give it a long glare. Her thermos was back again and she was about to drink from it but changed her mind, getting up and continuing to pace. While her eyes still had bags under them and actually seemed a little darker, her normal pigtails were replaced by two neatly done braids, showing that she had more time to wake up today.

“I want something that goes well with it but doesn’t go ‘augh!’ You know?” Marinette gestured and Nathaniel nodded.

“Maybe gold and blue? You always seem to do different reds and pinks, so blue would be nice. Or silver instead of gold,” Nathaniel suggested. Marinette paused thoughtfully, running it over in her head. She glanced at the door in deep thought and blinked when seeing eyes staring back at her.

“Oh, hey!” she waved happily and Adrien grinned, giddy that she spotted them. He entered the room and motioned to Félix who was still by the door.

“Good morning, I’m just showing my brother around school,” Adrien moved aside so Félix could introduce himself.

“Félix,” his brother said with a nod of his head.

“I’m Marinette, and this is Nathaniel. Sorry if we’re being too loud, we like to throw ideas around at one another for designs once in a while,” she smiled. At this Félix grew interested.

“Do you both make clothing?” he asked.

“I’m just an artist that likes to make comics so sometimes I make a couple of outfits now and then. And who better than to talk to than Marinette?” Nathaniel smiled at Marinette who flushed at the compliment.

“I’m not even that much help,” she tried to dismiss but Nathaniel gaped.

“You make everything you wear! That’s already amazing to begin with, and you’re also starting to do commissions already which is fantastic!” Nathaniel seemed to light up just talking about Marinette. Meanwhile the other girl’s face just got more and more scarlet at Nathaniel’s invigorated compliments.

“May I?” Félix came forward to Marinette and she nodded, sliding the notebook over for him to check out.

“So are you checking out the school?” Marinette asked, her face slowly losing the flush it had gathered. Her rosy cheeks were adorable to look at and seemed to make her face light up, eyes bright and smile warm. 

“No, I’m enrolled here.”

“Really?” both Marinette and Nathaniel said in surprise, looking at Adrien who chuckled sheepishly.

“I never got a chance to mention it since everyone was still talking about Alix being a Champion.”

“You could’ve slipped it in somewhere,” Nathaniel smiled at Adrien. “We’re not trying to keep your lips sealed.”

“I know, but it was a sudden move from our father. He didn’t even tell us until yesterday morning so it was definitely a surprise for us as well. I think I'm still sore under my chin when my jaw hit the floor from the news,” Adrien joked, trying to not sound bitter. Nathaniel laughed but Marinette didn’t, starting at Adrien who looked away nervously to where his brother was still observing Marinette’s work.

“The designs are fashionable yet simplistic enough to be seen as casual wear. The hats are also interesting with their different styles. Was this what you were arguing about?” Félix pointed to what looked like Marinette’s latest design. She nodded and leaned forward, starting to discuss what the two had been debating before the twins had entered.

"I didn't know you had an older brother," Nathaniel said curiously to Adrien while the other two talked.

"Twin, actually," Adrien admitted with a chuckle. Nathaniel looked even more surprised at this. 

“You don’t really talk about your family, do you?” he asked and Adrien shrugged.

“There’s not much to tell. We all keep to ourselves for the most part or we’re too busy to really do anything together,” Adrien focused his attention as Félix finished up with Marinette who seemed much happier than before.

“I can show you around if you want, unless Adrien has it all together,” Marinette smiled at Adrien who grinned happily as she turned her attention to him.

“You can join us if you want and add anything I might miss,” Adrien offered and Marinette giggled before turning to Nathaniel

“I’ll show them around. We’re all done here, right?” she asked and Nathaniel nodded with a soft smile.

“Yeah, you can go on ahead. I need to finish up my work from our last discussion anyway,” he said and Marinette hesitated before packing up her things and following after the twins.

“So where have you gone so far?” Marinette asked and Adrien informed her of everything including where they were headed before stopping at the art room. Marinette let Adrien do most of the leading and explaining where everything was, only informing Félix of things that Adrien wouldn’t know since he wasn’t here for as long. Such as the types of instruments that were in the music room, how to enter the basement, and that the door to every one of the the custodian closets may seem locked but if you jiggle the handle a couple of times while pressing into the handle and the bottom corner of the door simultaneously, it would unlock. Adrien was curious as to how Marinette knew that last one but didn’t ask.

Finally they got to the locker rooms and put away their extra belongings before heading to class where Nathaniel already was there, talking with Alix and Max. Félix was introduced to them and they happily accepted their new classmate with ease. Adrien could tell that Félix was starting to become less and less uncomfortable with the prospect of school as he got seated with Nathaniel who was the best person to be a desk partner with if you wanted little conversation.

When Chloé arrived she completely ignored Félix, sitting in her normal seat with Sabrina. Rather than being upset like Adrien would’ve expected, she seemed rather happy with herself. Maybe she was in a good mood and actually meant well for Félix.

Adrien settled into his seat happily as Nino came in with a friendly greeting and Adrien grew excited to introduce Félix to Nino. They both liked music and it would be amazing to see the two of them get along. Alya would also be a fun person for Félix to meet. Even if she did pry into things she shouldn’t, like with his secret identity, she was a good person.

Marinette suddenly stood up from behind the two of them, looking at the door in alarm. Adrien frowned at her sudden reaction and turned to face the door as well. There was a long second before Alya stormed into the room, eyes locked in on Chloé.

Now he had never seen many people angry in his life since it was rather unprofessional for them to act out on their emotions in the workplace, but Adrien could tell that the anger in Alya’s face was something to be feared. Her eyes blazed and her fists were balled as she stormed in, shoulders squared.

“How  _ dare _ you,” Alya seethed and Marinette got up as Alya slammed her hand down on Chloé’s desk, drawing the attention of all the students. “You knew I’ve been working hard on Noir News and you dare report it as copying your work? Your website is a rip off of mine! Those are my pictures! My theme designs!”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about. My site has been up longer and has way more important information. How dare you accuse me of such things. That’s utterly ridiculous,” Chloé huffed.

Alya’s face went from anger to rage. She seemed ready to let Chloé have it when Marinette interceded, pulling away the redhead and taking her outside where the two could talk. Adrien could hear Alya’s heated voice even outside of the classroom.

“That work is mine!” Alya growled.

“I know, I know,” Marinette tried to reason with the furious girl. If it had been her in Alya’s shoes she knows she would feel the exact same. But Marinette didn’t want to have Alya get into more trouble than what it was worth, especially with Chloé's easy ability to abuse power.

“If you can find out who was the one that closed your blog maybe you can get them to reopen it again?” Marinette offered.

“I would if they didn’t work for André Bourgeois,” Alya hissed menacingly, gripping her phone tightly in her hand. Mlle. Bustier arrived before Marinette could say anything else and ushered the girls inside the classroom before they were late.

Alya was fuming for the rest of the class, which put a damper on the mood of everyone else. At lunch Alya left wanting to be alone, leaving Marinette worried for her friend as she got seated at the lunch tables. Nino came over looking equally bothered.

“I feel bad for Alya, and the worst part is that we can’t do anything about it. Chloé gets what she wants just because her dad is the mayor and he has a ton of backing from other people. If not he just threatens them and they bend to his will,” Nino glumly messed with his food. 

“That sounds like Chloé,” they looked up to see Félix standing there, having overheard their conversation as he was headed to the library. “Is anyone sitting here?”

Marinette shook her head and moved her things to the side, letting Félix slide into the seat.

“Do you know Chloé well?” she asked.

“As well as Adrien does, but without the warped friendship they have,” Félix’s expression turned dark at that. Marinette could feel his negative emotions towards the blonde in discussion.

“How come you haven’t talked to Adrien about how bad their relationship is?” Nino asked.

“I’ve tried multiple times to reason with him, but Adrien’s a person of emotion rather than logic. He tends to prefer to keep people happy and stick with someone even if they’re not the best people because it’s usually all he has in terms of friends.”

“So Chloé was an opportunity to make friends and now he’s too committed to leave even though she’s an awful human being?” Nino concluded and Félix nodded. Marinette sighed, feeling sympathetic towards Adrien but also slightly annoyed. He had many more friends now and he should see that Chloé wasn’t a great person, so why stick with her?

“Your friend Alya was the one that was running Noir News?” Félix asked and other two nodded. “Interesting. My father happened to be talking about it yesterday, and Chloé had been saying that Noir News was ridiculous and she could make a better one so the heroes could respond to her.”

“Chloé doing something herself?” Nino laughed and Marinette snorted. The two of them laughed for a bit before realizing what that meant, the humor drooping as the reality set in.

“Chloé purposely made her own account and got Alya’s removed just so the heroes could talk to her,” Marinette realized. Nino gripped his fork angrily.

“Sometimes I just want to give her a good slug in the head. What does she even gain from it? She probably is forcing poor Sabrina to do all of the work anyway.”

“Chloé craves popularity and will do anything to ruin the reputation of others to rise up,” Félix said and Marinette sighed.

“I wish there was something we could do. Maybe we can talk to Max and see what he knows about copyright?” Marinette asked the two of them.

“She can demand Chloé for the pictures back at least. She does have evidence that those belong to her, especially if she has them backed up,” Nino said and Félix nodded.

“The only issue that will arise is the claiming of the website itself. Chloé has a huge amount of influence which will make it hard to get the credit given to the right person. One way I could see this complication being solved is if the heroes themselves validate Noir News so Alya could have control of it again due to people supporting the heroes. But for Alya who barely just started to make her blog known only for it to be shut down before it had a huge fanbase won’t be that impactful.”

“But would it still be able to help if Alya managed to interview one of the heroes?” Marinette asked hopefully, wanting at least some faith that it would all work out. Félix sat there considering this.

“It could work. The only issue is finding out how to get the heroes to come out. The only time they come out from what it looks like is to fight Coccinelle and once the fight is over they only have a limited time left, not much for an interview,” Félix said. Nino looked upset at this but Marinette was thoughtful.

Chat said he liked patrolling, so why not make those patrols more public? They could ‘coincidentally’ bump into Alya while on the patrol and spare a few minutes for an interview before leaving. That would be enough for Alya to get enough support back and reclaim her website or at least make her point shown that the information was her own.

For now though the first thing she had to do was make sure Alya was doing okay. She messaged Alya that they could meet up later if she was up for it after school before but got no reply back throughout lunch.

Nino decided to go talk to Max so Marinette decided to show Félix the library since he mentioned he wanted to check it out again. The two entered the quiet library and Marinette got seated at one of the tables in the back that she usually sat. Félix browsed the selection of books with interest while Marinette decided to look up methods in how to get Alya’s blog back. She wouldn’t be as skilled as Max was searching for what she needed but at least she was doing something rather than sitting around. 

Félix returned with a couple of books and the two both got settled down in a comfortable silence. Marinette bookmarked important points on her phone she thought would be good, meanwhile deciding to continue her design she had worked on earlier this morning, recalling Félix’s input.

His critique of her work was actually much appreciated. Most people couldn’t see the finer details that she had, rather seeing everything as a whole. Yet Félix took note of every aspect and not only analyzed the whole outfit but also the individual details she had made. He was observant and his commentary was useful rather than harsh with no points of improvement.

“And my guess was correct!” they glanced up as Adrien smiled down at the two of them. He looked like he had just come from a shoot, his face still covered in a light layer of makeup and hair slightly gelled in specific spots, most likely strays that wouldn’t stay down.

“Let me guess, you thought I would be in here?” Félix returned to his book as the twin’s grin widened. It was odd that the two of them had such different demeanors; Adrien always radiant and smiling while Félix seemed more mellow and soft. Marinette noticed with a small bit of surprise that she hadn’t seen Félix smile all day.

“Yep! Are these your designs?” Adrien asked as he sat next to Marinette, leaning in to see her work. She quickly pulled it away though, freaking out. The next page had her art for Adrien’s birthday gift and she didn’t want him to see that.

“Most of the time they’re just silly things I do. Some though are commissions that people want me to make so I usually make different designs before making them.” Marinette flipped farther along in the book and happened to land on the Chat Noir themed outfit and Marinette felt his bubbling emotions still completely, much like they had done when she came in looking like a mess the other day. He seemed to freeze up before forcing himself back into motion, his emotions fluttering. Marinette frowned at Adrien.

“You like Chat Noir, huh,” Adrien said, voice sounding odd which caused Félix looked up at the notebook curiously. Félix’s eyes widened and he leaned forward to look at the outfit from her seat.

“That’s pretty cool. What’s the jacket made of?” Félix asked.

“I don’t know. Chat Noir’s suit looks like it’s made of leather since it shines but it actually is a different material all together. I can’t really describe it but it’s fascinating. That’s why I don’t know what texture I want the jacket to be but I really want to keep the silver in it. Then the undershirt will be black and green. Black jeans would look good with it or any dark colored jeans. What do you think?” Marinette asked Félix. She couldn’t help but notice the giddiness coming off of Adrien as his brother examined her work.

Before he could respond, the warning bell rang and Félix went to put his books away. 

“You should show these to Chat Noir,” Adrien said and Marinette couldn’t help but shake her head.

“It’s not like I can find him easily and show him. He’s a hero and is busy dealing Coccinelle to focus on a girl making some doodles in her book.”

“But you did save him, maybe he must want to do something for you?” Adrien asked but Marinette shook her head.

“I don’t want him to feel obligated towards me. He saved my life too that day so we called it even.”

“But what if he doesn’t feel that it’s even and he still wants to do something for you?” Adrien pressed. Marinette giggled.

“If you keep talking like that I’m going to think Chat Noir is your friend or something,” Marinette joked and Adrien realized his persistence and chuckled sheepishly.

“Sorry, it feels like such a waste if he didn’t see it.”

“I’m mainly doing this for my own fun. I enjoy what I’m doing and while I know he would appreciate the work, I’m not looking for his validation. Just mine is enough,” Marinette smiled and Adrien soaked in what she said before nodding slowly.

“I get that. That’s how I feel with fencing. Even if I look better to my father and to everyone that I have a trophy or first place prize, I like doing it for myself.”

“It’s that satisfaction you get from doing it right,” Marinette agreed and the two shared a smile as Félix returned. 

Marinette glanced at her phone to see no messages from her friend as they entered the classroom, and got worried when seeing the empty seat next to hers. Marinette sat down alone and sighed in worry as she glanced at her phone again. A soft tap bumped her leg and she opened her purse curiously too see Nooroo give her a smile, trying to lighten up her day. Marinette smiled back in return and tried not to think of the negatives as she got her notes out. Once she talked to Chat Noir about the patrols then she would be able to set things right for Alya, and she was determined to make it right


	7. DJ Echo

Félix was surprised when Nino came with Adrien as they headed home, intent on talking to their dad about having a birthday celebration. Félix wanted to scoff at the optimism in the young man yet was also slightly impressed at his spirit. Sadly the day Gabriel Agreste let his sons have a birthday party of their own desires would be the day he actually told them he loved them.

“I’m not sure this is a good idea,” Adrien was on the same wavelength as Félix in terms of Nino’s success.

“I can be pretty persuading, trust me,” Nino winked as they headed inside.

To the surprise of the three residents of the Agreste household, Gabriel Agreste was actually out of his office, holding a couple of books in his hand as he left the library on the upper floor.

“Who is this?” Gabriel asked, eyebrow raised.

“Hello, M. Agreste. I was wondering since your sons are having a birthday tomorrow, I wanted to have a celebration with the entire class. It would be a great way for Félix to get to know everyone and because Adrien has been such a great friend, it would be a nice way of showing our appreciation for him,” Nino said confidently.

“And where would you be having this party?” Gabriel questioned.

“Well, I haven’t thought it out as of yet-”

“And when would this party be?”

“I was planning maybe tomorrow or the day after-”

“And what entertainment will you have?”

“I’ve got some music I could set up and my friends always have great party ideas if I talk to them-”

“And what kind of food?”

“My friend’s a baker and she makes really good pastries and cakes-” Nino was getting more anxious the faster Gabriel asked the questions.

“And you’re good friends with my sons?”

“We’re best friends!” Nino felt relieved at the easy question, but little did he know that was his downfall.

“You’re telling me you want to have a party for my sons with cheap entertainment which hasn’t even been discussed, eat unhealthy sugary food that will damage my son’s physique, and found a good venue to celebrate while their birthday is only a couple days away? If you really cared for my sons, you would have asked me about this a month in advance so a proper celebration could be planned rather than a small- and what it seems like- a pathetic and rushed excuse for a party. Would a good friend truly be that uncoordinated and distasteful? What if my sons are busy tomorrow and are unable to attend their own celebration? This looks like an excuse to find time to slack off and inhibit my sons from focusing on their work rather than something for them to enjoy. We’re a busy family, and if you were as you say his “best friend,” you would understand that we don’t have the luxury to relax like you. This is an insult to my sons in a lack of planning,” Gabriel finished coldly.

Adrien looked horrified at his father and Félix glanced to his side to see that Nino seemed to have shrunken into a shell, head bowed in shame and shoulders slumped.

“If you have nothing else to say, I suggest you leave now before you humiliate yourself any further,” Gabriel walked down the steps and headed to his office.

“Père-” Adrien started but was completely ignored, Gabriel closing the door behind him.

Adrien turned to his friend, “I’m so sorry. He’s-”

“It’s okay dude, he’s right. I should’ve thought of this all before hand rather than try something spontaneous. It was wrong of me to not talk you guys into account... I gotta go, see you tomorrow,” Nino sighed and headed out. Adrien was about to follow after him but Félix grabbed his brother’s shoulder, shaking his head.

“Don’t, not right now when he’s home,” Félix looked to the office door before watching Nino leave, the Gorilla closing the door behind him and thus shutting out the young man and leaving the twins locked inside for the rest of the day.

Adrien gripped his fist tightly before pulling away from his brother, storming silently to his room and locking himself in. Félix stood in the middle of the foyer alone as Nathalie went into the office.

Gabriel’s grip was steel when it came to letting the boys do what they wanted. Everything must go through his personal inspection, and the standards Gabriel maintained were extremely high that it was nearly impossible to enjoy themselves. Such was life in the Agreste household after their mother vanished.

Félix decided to retire to his room to read to take his mind off of the somber rejection of unsuspecting Nino.

He entered the library and pulled a book from the shelf, opening it up and deeming it good enough to be a distraction as he settled down into his seat. There was a gentle breeze from the window and he looked outside, watching a butterfly flutter by the window innocently.

It was odd to him how similar Marinette was to her. They both looked almost the exact same but Marinette had larger eyes from her father while her’s were more almond shaped. Her hair was also longer but other than that the coloring between the two was the same. Their smiles were also warm and the giggle almost identical.

The new hero Húdié also sparked some interest in him. How was it that a butterfly hero that arrived looked just like her who also had a love of butterflies?

Félix sighed and closed his book. With the three girls in mind, it would be impossible to read so he might as well find something else to do instead.

Nino glumly sat on a park bench, blowing some bubbles from a bubble blower Chris gave him. He had soft music playing in his headphones to drown out the noise of the children running around the park. As each bubble popped, he felt as if it was another thing he had done wrong. Nino should’ve checked in on Adrien before if they could even have this party. If only he had gotten Gabriel’s approval in advance then Nino would’ve been set. Now he let down his classmates who were expecting a party, and Adrien who had been excited to celebrate his first birthday with friends.

Nino jumped when a hand waved in front of him. He looked to the person in alarm and relaxed when seeing it was Marinette.

“Hey,” he pulled off his headphones. Marinette settled down on the bench next to him.

“You seem upset,” she said.

“Is it that obvious?” Nino asked. Marinette nodded.

“You usually only listen to music in public when you’re thinking hard, and with that look on your face, it's not a positive thinking. Did it not go well with their dad?”

Nino sighed as he slumped into the bench further, “I messed up.”

“How?” Marinette asked in worry.

“I was supposed to plan this all before but since I didn’t Gabriel got upset with me thinking I’m disrespecting his sons because of my poor lack of planning.”

“You only found out about Adrien’s birthday last week, plus no one even knew Félix existed until today,” Marinette said but Nino still wasn’t encouraged.

“I still should’ve planned something better at least. We have no food, no music, no entertainment, nothing. Not even a place to host it,” Nino rested the back of his head on the bench. He just wanted his friend to have a good time with everyone because Adrien never got to leave the house. Now it looked like Nino not only ruined any other future outings for Adrien but also seems like a terrible friend in the eyes of Gabriel. It hurt Nino to imagine what Gabriel thought of the other classmates.

Marinette leaned back too and they both sat there, frowning in silence. Nino looked up at the children playing around in the park without a care.

“I’ve always liked this park. It’s small but at the same time big enough to be a nice place to have a little private time. Plus it’s right next to your house so we always grabbed something to eat before working on my music over there,” Nino nodded to the familiar spot the two of them always sat hiding in the bushes so they could listen to Nino’s new music or make fun of the kids acting up in the playground.

“You know, we could have the party here,” Marinette said as she thought. Nino looked to her in surprise and watched Marinette’s face start to brighten as she planned out everything. “It would be far easier and faster for my parents to make food and bring it right over here since we’re right next door. And for reserving a spot at the park with the city will be simple because there aren't any events hosted here later in the day, especially on a weekday. If that doesn't work we can talk to Chloe and see if she can reserve a spot for us since her dad's the mayor and she’ll do anything for Adrien. She might just rent out the whole park just to show off,” Marinette chuckled and Nino laughed, feeling giddy.

“I can grab some of the sound set that I have already. And doesn’t Juleka and her brother play guitar together? We might be able to snag some speakers from them.”

“For games we can talk to Alix and Kim who will probably have something for everyone to do that’s sporty. And anyone that doesn’t want to get that rough and dirty I can get some other things to do fun arts and crafts.”

“Can we ask Max to bring his game system? Put it on a projector or something?” Nino asked excitedly.

“That’s a little too much to hope for,” Marinette giggled and Nino chuckled sheepishly, realizing that it would be pretty hard.

“We should talk to Gabriel right now,” Nino got up but Marinette pulled him back down.

“We need to make sure this can happen first!” Marinette pointed out and Nino chuckled bashfully again.

“Sorry I’m just so excited. This might actually work,” he said and pulled out his phone to call people. Marinette was amazing with her quick thinking. Nino always admired that from her.

“You call Chloe because she’ll never hear it from me. I’ll talk to Alix and Juleka and you can try to get in contact with Kim and maybe Max to see if they have any fun things to do,” Marinette said and the two got started on the calls, bubbling with excitement.

Adrien was set on moping in his room for the rest of the day until Félix came in with his violin to practice. The two started to practice, Adrien playing the piano as Félix’s accompaniment.

As they practiced, Félix seemed to struggle with playing most of the time until the quieter twin finally stopped. Adrien trialed off on the keys, looking at his brother in surprise. It wasn’t like Félix to suddenly stop like that while practicing.

“I know you’re upset but this is excessive,” Félix gave his brother a look.

“What?” Adrien asked, offended.

“Your playing is everywhere that I can’t even match your rhythm. Père isn’t going to hate Nino forever. He just got mad at Nino because he wanted to make another excuse for us to not leave the house,” Félix lowered his bow and violin. Adrien ran his fingers along the keys, sighing.

“I just wanted to hang out with them for my birthday. This is the first time Maman isn’t here that…” Adrien couldn’t finish. Since their mother got sick, their father had been out of the house all of the time but always wanted to keep the two of them inside as if to hide them from something. Chat Noir was that small freedom he got, but with how serious Coccinelle was to get the ring it wasn’t fun to go out all the time. Patrol was pretty fun but even then was short since Húdié was always busy with something. She seemed stressed all the time and it seemed to make her more prone to stuttering and stumbling around. Adrien felt bad for her.

“Maybe the two of us can do something. Have the chef make us something small. Or make it ourselves like Maman taught us,” Félix suggested.

“Yeah,” Adrien agreed but the thoughts of his mother still resonated in his mind. Years ago the twins had noticed that their mother was starting to fall ill until it got super severe that she was hospitalized. Then their father took her to a special hospital that prohibited any visitors due to the biosecurity measures they had in place and the twins had yet to see her face or even hear from here since then.

The two blinked in surprise as they heard talking from outside. Adrien was able to pick up on the voices almost immediately.

“Is that-?” Adrien quickly got out of the room and sure enough spotted Nino and Marinette standing in the foyer. Adrien hurried down the steps, Félix following after curiously.

“What’s up, dude!” Nino waved happily to Adrien as if he didn’t get scolded by his father not too long ago. Marinette greeted them with a smile and a wave.

“What are you doing here?” Adrien asked in surprise.

“Marinette ran into me at the park and found out what happened so she decided to help me! Speaking of that, you really showed up at the park at the best time, Mari,” Nino told the girl.

“I just had a feeling,” she shrugged with a smile as the door of the office opened and Gabriel came out. He glared at the two guests and Adrien glanced at Nino too see that the tall boy still looked ashamed and starting to hunch down. Adrien was about to step up to defend his friend when Marinette stepped forward, back straight and head up.

“Hello, M. Agreste. My name is Marinette Dupain-Cheng. I’m a big fan of your work, especially the recent collection you made. The butterflies were my favorite part of it,” she said and Gabriel blinked in surprise.

“I’m surprised, not many people notice the butterflies. It’s in my logo actually,” he motioned to the design of the house and sure enough, as Adrien looked around, the shapes he figured were always simple shapes turned out to be a butterfly.

“My mother has a fondness for butterflies so she inspired my love for them to add them into my work,” Marinette presented her flats which had little butterflies resting on the tops of them. Gabriel looked impressed.

“You made those yourself?” he asked and Marinette nodded.

“I wear this often so it was hard to make since I needed to find a strong sole to use,” she said.

“I come across that often, and the issue always arises about comfort and durability,” Gabriel said and Marinette nodded in agreement. “But you’re not here to discuss clothing, are you Mlle. Dupain-Cheng?”

“I’m not. I'm here to discuss the plans for Adrien and Félix's birthday celebration."

"As I told your companion, I will not permit a celebration that doesn't have anything planned,” Gabriel’s tone went cold as fast as his frown grew but Marinette wasn’t deterred.

"Even if we have the venue, food, entertainment, and all the necessities?" Marinette questioned. Adrien looked at the girl hopefully.

"I will not stand a poor attempt either," Gabriel glared. Adrien stared at Marinette who for a second glanced down before looking up determinedly at his father.

"The party is going to be located at the park down the street from our school which is also next door to my house. My parents will be providing the food and drinks and I along with other classmates have planned activities such as board games, art, and other sport activities that will keep the party entertaining. We will also have a music set up and a personal DJ."

"We have a DJ?" Nino asked and Marinette gave him a look. Nino stared in confusion before realizing what she meant. "Oh, you mean me! Yes, I'm the DJ."

"What food will be provided?"

"Since Adrien is a model we can make low calorie foods and our cake will have a lower amount of sugar so even if he has some there shouldn't be too serious of an effect on his diet. My parents can send the nutrition facts if you want to ensure his is well regulated."

Adrien looked at his father too see a look of interest. Hope bubbled in his chest and he glanced excitedly at Félix who looked surprised.

"What time is the reservation for?"

"We will set up right after school so the party will start not too long after school and will be finished by sundown.”

The house was silent as Gabriel contemplated everything Marinette had told him. Adrien tried not to fidget with the anxiety racing through him just hoping for once they could celebrate with friends.

“I want you to send my assistant here every detail about the party by the end of the night. Not only that, their guard must also keep a watch on them during the time of the event,” Gabriel finally said. It took all of Adrien’s willpower not to cheer. He looked excitedly over at Nino while Félix stood there surprised as Marinette agreed.

“I will,” Marinette said and Nathalie took Marinette’s phone, inputting her number into it.

“That will be all. This better not be a disappointment for my sons,” Gabriel warned. Marinette’s smile fell as she nodded seriously.

“It won’t, M. Agreste,” she answered.

Gabriel returned to his office with Nathalie right behind while the Gorilla waited for the guests to leave. Adrien couldn’t help but hug Nino tightly, giddy with excitement.

“Thank you so much,” he tried to express how happy he was through his voice. It looked like Nino got it as his own smile widened.

“Anything for you, bro. It was all thanks to Marinette though with her quick thinking. She managed to get it all set up within half an hour!”

“I would never have thought of it if you hadn’t been at the park. Plus we couldn’t have set it up without the help from everyone else. I should head out, Juleka and her brother are going to drop off the speakers an a bit so I need to be home to get them,” Marinette said as she checked her phone.

“Thank you, Marinette,” Adrien pulled Marinette into a tight hug and held her there for a second longer than normal. He pulled back but still had his hands on her shoulders, not wanting to let go. Marinette smiled sweetly at him, making his face flush and his heart skip in joy

“I can’t wait for tomorrow,” she giggled as she stepped back and Adrien grinned, heart still pounding in his chest.

Nino headed out with Marinette and Adrien watched them climb into the car as the Gorilla escorted the two home. When he returned into the foyer, Félix was waiting for him looking towards the door in interest with the same look Gabriel had when the two first arrived.

“That was impressive. No one has ever been able to convince Père like that before. I expect he’ll keep an eye out on Marinette from now on if she not only noticed a subtlety in his work but also persuaded him to change his opinion which is a rare occurrence. She has an eye for design and is a resourceful person which is a highly sought skill in people he aims at hiring. I wouldn’t be surprised if he asks her to do an internship with him in the future.”

“She’s definitely amazing,” Adrien sighed fondly after the car driving off.  
  


Marinette was freaking out. Her room was a mess and only getting worse as she dug through random boxes in her room.The coffee she drank to keep her awake after her all-nighter to make the banner for the party didn’t help as her head throbbed with a slight headache and her heart pounded abnormally fast in her chest. Was she seeing double or was everything just moving really fast? At this point Marinette didn't care.

“It’s fine! Everything is set up already!” Nooroo said but Marinette shook her head.

“I can't find Adrien’s gift!” Marinette wailed.

“Where do you last remember putting it?” Nooroo asked.

“I was holding the gift I got for Félix and put it down in the pile of gifts, but then when I came back for Adrien’s gift my parents gave me the food, then Luka came and helped me set the music system up, and then Alix and Max brought the games, then Nathalie came and talked to me about the food since she wanted to see it, then-”

“Okay it looks like you were running around a lot. Let’s check out those places quickly. Make sure you have everything before you head out,” Nooroo advised and Marinette nodded, starting her exploration of the house after grabbing her belongings and putting it into her purse.

Nooroo slipped into her purse as she headed into the bakery and her parents handed her yet another plate of food to take across the street to the party. Marinette kept an eye out for the gift as she made her way across the street but didn’t find anything on the floor or anywhere else random. She bit back a sigh as she entered the park, feeling hopeless. 

"More food? Your parents are spoiling us," Nino hurried over and grabbed the food. Marinette smiled gratefully. He had been such a great help with the party, helping with the set up and rushing around making sure everything was going well.

The twins had already arrived a while ago and everyone was excitedly chatting with them, poor Félix looking slightly overwhelmed unlike his brother who was pouring with happiness.

Thankfully his joy was contagious which eased Marinette's nerves as she did a check around to make sure everything was going well. Still no gift in sight to her dismay.

"Hey, Marinette," she turned to see Luka by the DJ booth holding Nino's set up, "do you know where Nino wants to put this?" 

"Yes, right here," she hurried over and pointed out where and the two of them set it up, Luka doing the heavy lifting with ease.

"Thank you again for coming out and on such a short notice, that means a lot to me." Marinette said. Luka's smile was gentle and warm.

"My pleasure. I'm always here if you need anything."

"Even with no notice in advance?" Marinette asked with a grin.

"Maybe a little notice in advance," Luka admitted and Marinette giggled.

"Thanks, dudes," Nino hurried over. He didn't look worried but there was something off about his emotions.

"What's wrong?" Marinette asked.

"It's Chloé again," Nino grumbled in annoyance, "She's spouting her lies about her copied website to everyone. Alya's not here yet but I don't want anyone talking about it when she arrives because that'll cause problems between the two and ruin the party."

"I'll see what I can do," Marinette hurried over to the crowd where Chloé was boasting about the website she was claiming as her own.

"And I'm planning to interview the heroes in a few days," Chloé bragged. Alix scoffed and left to get more snacks while everyone else looks uncertain. Kim and Rose were the only two that seemed excited. 

"Chloe also managed to get the venue for us," Marinette mentioned. Everyone stared at the newcomer in surprise; Marinette has never said something kind towards Chloé.

"I did! My Père managed to do it without an issue. Didn't even have to fire a person. You won't believe how many people we've had to fire-" Marinette walked away from the rambling and continued to make sure everything was going well. Nino has set up his music and was playing some nice songs with Luka chatting next to the DJ, Max and Alix were playing a couple of board games and Kim pulled away from Chloé's conversation to join them, Mylène was starting to make a bracelet with the things Marinette brought, and the other kids around Chloé were all pulling away from the blonde to do other things. Only Adrien and Sabrina were left with Chloé, Adrien held down by Chloé's vice grip. With a glance at the blond she decided to do another look around for the gift while waiting but still didn't come up with anything, slightly bumming her out.

Alya arrived and Marinette went to greet her, feeling happy at least her friend was able to make it. The amateur blogger seemed to be doing better and more at peace with everything that had happened.

Marinette felt confident as everything seemed to be going smoothly minus the missing present. The twins were busy and Félix seemed to be enjoying himself as he and Max played a game. She looked to Adrien who looked uncomfortable trapped in Chloé’s arm-lock.

As she went over to help him, Chloé suddenly pointed behind Marinette in horror.

“Coccinelle!” she screamed. Everyone turned to see Coccinelle on a rooftop above, glaring at the party.

Panic ensued and everyone took off to find cover in the park. Marinette booked it straight out of the park and towards an alley nearby. She scanned the area and once sure of herself, let Nooroo out.

“No break even on birthdays,” Nooroo said sympathetically.

“The faster we finish this, the more time we can celebrate,” Marinette said. “For now we got to fight. Wings Rise!” 

Húdié wall jumped between the two buildings and landed on the roof, looking at the party below.

Coccinelle had overturned the present table to find Chloé cowering underneath with Sabrina. She screamed and pushed Sabrina into the villain’s hands before running off in a panic. Coccinelle pushed Sabrina to the side in annoyance and chased after Chloé. As he wound up his yo-yo to catch her, Adrien stepped in the way brandishing a nearby stand from the music set as a sword. Félix meanwhile guided Chloé to safety as Húdié jumped off the roof and landed in the park, using her cane to slow the fall until she landed in front of the two.

“Go to that bakery right there, the people inside should help you,” Húdié ordered and Félix took off, pulling the other blonde along who kept complaining about nonsense.

“Adrien!” Húdié turned to see Adrien get knocked down to the ground painfully, Nino shouting his name. Húdié felt the fiery passion in Nino as he ran out to help his friend but Cocinelle merely wrapped the yo-yo around Nino’s wrist and yanked it, forcing Nino to crash to the ground.

“Nino!” Adrien shouted as Húdié pulled him up.

“You get to safety, I’ll help him,” Húdié comforted Adrien and he hesitated before escaping.

Coccinelle left Nino on the floor though, instead going for Húdié in order to get her brooch. She expertly dodged him and used her cane as a staff that she had been learning to use with her mother which ensured that the yo-yo couldn’t get snagged around it, but his hits were powerful when he got past her guard and made contact. One brutal hit sent her stumbling back from the impact.

“I didn’t know you were one for being a party crasher,” Húdié rolled up to see Chat Noir on top of a light post grinning down mischievously. She couldn’t help but smile in relief when seeing her partner.

He jumped down and landed in front of her as Húdié opened her cane to reveal a white butterfly. Coccinelle went for her but Chat Noir protected her as she filled it with energy and cupped it in her hands before running over to Nino and offering it to him, speeding up the process. Nino offered his headphones and grinned as the butterfly entered them.

“Shall we get this party started, DJ Echo?” Húdié asked.

"Let's turn up the music," Nino grinned and his outfit transformed, speakers appearing as small dots on his chest, arms, and legs. He now also wore gloves that seemed to glow as he reached out and tapped on the sound system behind him.

At a snap of his fingers, the speakers exploded with music in the form of sound waves and knocked Coccinelle back in surprise. Húdié meanwhile offered the Champion her cane and he tapped it with his finger. She felt the cane warm under her touch and charged Coccinelle to the surprise of everyone, DJ Echo following right behind her.

As Coccinelle braced himself, Hudie swung the cane to the side. He caught it easily with his yo-yo and frowned as Húdié grabbed the yo-yo and braced herself. Echo snuck from behind and tapped on the yo-yo before Coccinelle could pull it away.

With a snap of his fingers, the speakers on his suit blew the villain back as he pulled his yo-yo away from them, this time tugging Húdié along. The two stumbled and Chat Noir came forward to DJ Echo.

"I can cause speakers to go crazy so Coccinelle won't have a chance to recover. Like this," he snapped as Coccinelle wound back his arm to throw the yo-yo at Húdié who was still on the floor. The small speaker in the communicator explode with loud music and caused the yo-yo to flail around, making Coccinelle lose his grip. Húdié swung her cane and with a snap from Echo, her cane flew towards Coccinelle quickly and rammed him on the knee, causing the villain to crumple in pain.

"Looks like Coccinelle can't handle getting  _ beat _ down like that," Chat Noir's grin widened as DJ Echo tapped on his own baton and the hero prowled forward to strike.

Adrien came out of the alley and hurried back to where the party was at the park. Thanks to Nino, or DJ Echo, Coccinelle wasn't able to do anything with his yo-yo that kept flying everywhere due to the huge sound waves blasting from it. DJ Echo also helped the heroes by making their hits stronger by using the soundwaves to propel their attacks. Other students even came back to help by keeping Coccinelle trapped when he had used his Charm and broke Nino's speakers on his suit. They all used their phones as speakers to knock Coccinelle around until he fled, barely able to escape with his faulty yo-yo.

Adrien looked around the park and felt his spirits fall. A ton of people had left to escape the villain and everything was now a mess. The food had spilled, the game pieces were everywhere, and he hoped nothing happened to the music set up since those could be expensive.

Adrien saw Marinette picking up gifts and dusting them off before putting them on a table. She looked up at him and headed towards him, Adrien meeting her halfway and noticing how upset she looked.

"Sorry that this ended up being a disaster," she sighed.

"I still managed to have some fun," Adrien lied, not wanting to mention how uncomfortable he had felt with Chloé clinging to his arm. Adrien looked at the positives instead, thinking about how his friends had planned this for him. They didn’t have to, especially after what Nino had to go through with his father. Nino could’ve distanced himself from Adrien after realizing the issues Adrien would bring along with an overprotective father, but instead reached out again to make sure Adrien felt included.

“The gifts turned out alright at least,” Marinette handed him the gift in her hand. He read the label saying it was from Max and couldn’t help but wonder what was inside.

“This party was already a gift itself. Thank you,” Adrien smiled gratefully at the girl but noticed she looked upset. “What’s wrong?”

“I lost your gift,” Marinette blurted. Adrien blinked in surprise as she continued. “I had it in my hands but I was doing everything so I don’t know what happened. I could’ve dropped it and it got ran over by a car or someone else got it and I completely forgot to put my name on it so now no one will know and it’s a mess,” Marinette cut her rambling short and Adrien couldn’t help but chuckle at her anxiousness over something so small and her concern for  _ him _ . It was heartwarming and made him flush with joy that she worried about him.

“You’ve done so much for me already, Marinette. You’re one of the most amazing people I’ve met and you always try to help out people. It’s okay if I don’t get a gift, I’m lucky just knowing you. I wish I could have just a bit of you to give me some luck when you’re not around,” he smiled warmly. Marinette stared at him with her mouth in a small ‘o’ and he worried that he said too much. Before he could take back what he said, Marinette opened her small purse and offered him something.

Adrien looked at the small charm. It had a large green bead with a flower engraved on it and he noticed the other beads had little butterflies on them.

"I made this myself. It’s a lucky charm I carry around for good luck. The lotus and butterflies symbolize long life and it’s bound together by the red string that symbolizes good fortune. So it’s a charm for a long and good life, and I hope you can find that even when I’m not with you.”

Adrien stared at the charm before blinking in surprise, realizing what she meant.

“You want to give this to me?” he asked. He gaped when she nodded.

“I can’t take this, it’s your good luck charm!” Adrien said but Marinette shook her head and proceeded to offer it to him.

“Think of is as a gift. Since I lost yours,” Marinette giggled in slight embarrassment. “Sorry, it's such a cheap move to give you something of mine I know that it’s not much-”

Adrien clasped his hands around hers, “Thank you. This is the best gift ever.”

He smiled as she relaxed and her own smile grew.

“Happy Birthday, Adrien,” she said. Before he could say anything in reply, someone cleared their throat from behind. They looked to see Nathalie standing there waiting for him.

“M. Agreste wants you home,” she said. Adrien sighed, the moment lost.

“See you tomorrow, Marinette. Thank you for today,” Adrien risked it again and pulled her into a gentle hug, feeling her wrap her arms around him securely and holding him steady.

“Get home safely, and don’t forget your gifts!’ Marinette said and she pulled back, Adrien reluctantly letting go. He held onto her charm as she waved him off and continued to hold it tightly until finally getting home.

“Looks like your girlfriend got your a gift. Shame that she lost it,” Plagg snickered, “Sounds like a lame excuse to me.”

“Marinette didn’t mean to, and I believe her,” Adrien smiled at the charm as he laid down on the bed. He fiddled with the charm and felt his chest warm up with the fact that she gave this to him because he said something so small. It was just about wishing for a bit of luck and she gave that to him.

“I should make her something. How about I plan her birthday? I’ll make it as fun as this one. The food was great and the music was really enjoyable. I would love to invite that guy Luka again because he was really nice even though I only talked to him for a bit. Max was also really good at those board games. Maybe I should buy some board games so if people want to come over I can play them?” Adrien began to talk excitedly. Plagg groaned and covered his head underneath the pillow.

“Here we go again,” he grumbled as Adrien got up and began writing ideas down on sticky notes and putting them up on his wall of ideas and facts for his friends he had started to make throughout the school year. They were simple things such as Nino’s favorite musician, Max’s video game recommendations, Kim’s ideas for his next dare, books that Félix was interested in. Adrien wanted to make sure he could connect with his classmates and everyone around him so he made little notes about them before compiling them into a notebook to look at later. 

Today was a good example about what his friends would enjoy at parties. Then if father let him invite people over, he would be ready!

Adrien looked at his notes and grinned, bursting with excitement. He couldn’t wait for his friends to visit. Maybe he could even do a movie night? 

“Turn out that light, I’m trying to sleep!” Plagg finally whined and Adrien gave in for the night, finishing his last sticky note before heading to bed, grinning happily as he looked at the lucky charm by his bed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I personally wasn't fond of the Bubbler's design plus it didn't fit Nino's character so I wanted to make it more suitable for our awesome turtle DJ. Hope you enjoyed!


	8. Dreaming of Warmth

Félix opened his eyes to find himself sitting on a park bench. He rose up quickly and turned around, looking for her.

“Félix!” he spotted her as she came out from around a nearby fountain. She was smiling as always, her small face bright with happiness. Her bluebell eyes twinkled and her long twin tails puffed out behind her as she skipped over.

“Bridgette,” he greeted and she came up to him, grabbing his hands and settling down next to Félix on the bench.

“If feels like it’s been forever since I saw you. You’ve been so stressed lately you haven’t gotten a good night’s rest in a while,” she scolded gently and Félix gave her a look.

“If you’re going to lecture me I’ll cut back on my sleep,” he warned.

“But then I’ll be so alone!” Bridgette wailed dramatically, leaning back against the bench with her arms dramatically draped over her face. Félix chuckled and Bridgette giggled.

“So tell me what’s happening recently! Anything new and exciting?” Bridgette got up from her slumped position and leaned forward eagerly to hear what he had to say. 

“I’m going to public school now.”

“Really?” Bridgette gasped in surprise, completely taken aback.

“It’s actually going better than I expected,” Félix admitted and Bridgette squealed.

“That’s great! Oh I’m so excited you’re going to make so many new friends and you’ll have a blast! It sounds like Adrien’s having a great time so I’m sure you will too! Have you made friends yet? Adrien better have been introducing you to everyone!” Bridgette rambled before stopping, taking a deep breath and recovering. Félix took his chance to talk.

“I’m meeting people if that’s what you want me to say. I wouldn’t say friends as of yet since it’s only been a couple of days, but they’re nicer than I expected.”

“Any specific people? Tell me everything,” she pushed and Félix’s face softened at her positive attitude. He missed her when ever he was too busy to get a decent night’s sleep. It was what the two of them noticed when he stopped dreaming of her all of a sudden as he got more and more stressed or busy with life. Bridgette had always been his closest friend since he could recall, but she only appeared in his dreams which meant it all depended on him getting a good night’s rest so he could dream. They didn’t know if she was real or not because she didn’t really have memories, but Bridgette seemed so real that it almost felt weird calling her his imaginary friend.

“There’s this one guy Nino who really cares for everyone, especially Adrien, and always looks out for them and wants to hang out despite not being the best planner,” he shook his head as he recalled the fiasco the day before the party. “Nathaniel is my desk mate and is normally quiet but also enjoys drawing art and he started to introduce me to other people in class like Max who has many interesting board games I’ve never seen before. Marinette is Adrien’s other friend who is a designer. She actually looks a lot like you… Are you okay?” Félix asked as he watched Bridgette frown when he started talking about Marinette.

“I’ve heard that name before,” she said.

“Maybe I’ve talked about her before with Adrien?” Félix said but Bridgette shook her head.

“No… That name… It reminds me of… home?” she looked at Félix in surprise, as if stunned to experience different emotions besides the usual joy.

“Do you remember home?” Félix asked in wonder. Bridgette stared off into the distance as she thought about it. Just as she sighed, giving up, an apple blossom petal from the tree nearby dropped onto her. She stared at it and her eyes widened.

“Red. We had red in our house. Warmth. Hands. There were big hands that held me tightly, medium hands that I could grasp their fingers with my first, and then small hands like mine. I would hold that small hand so tightly. I felt safe. I…” she watched the petal get swept up into the wind and stared after it longingly.

“Marinette looks identical to you. She has the exact same colored hair and eyes as you plus she’s our age. Do you think you’re both connected? Maybe you might be connected?”

“Maybe. But we really don’t know what I am. It would be best not to mention it to her just so she doesn’t think you’re weird. She seems nice but I’m certain it wouldn’t bode well if you start talking about your dream friend that looks like her. You’re trying to make friends, not look like a ghost whisperer,” Bridgette giggled and Félix rolled his eyes.

“I’m pretty sure you’re not a ghost, but if you insist I’ll swear to secrecy,” he said and Brigette’s smile grew.

“Anything fun with the heroes you’ve been talking about?”

“Not much, but there was this one Champion yesterday that could control pigeons and it looks like Adrien had his window open so a ton of feathers flew into his room and he got a huge allergic reaction so he missed school yesterday. He was pouting a ton but he looked ridiculous with his stuffed up nose and nasally voice. Father had to postpone everything and you know how he gets,” Félix rolled his eyes.

Bridgette puffed up her chest and slicked her bangs back with one hand as she stood seriously, “This will be a delay in our scheduling but it will be manageable to get on track with serious intent and dedication. I expect no distractions for the time being until we resume our previous plans.” Félix couldn’t help but laugh at Bridgette’s gruff voice imitating his father.

“You’re getting better all the time,” he said and Bridgette smiled mischievously.

“I’ve had practice,” she huffed proudly and settled herself back down on the bench. The two laughed as the apple blossoms blew gently overhead, the wind making them flutter skyward like butterflies.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone! Sorry this chapter isn't as long as normal but I felt like it was better to have a break between this one and the next rather than combining the two into one. I'll be posting the next chapter next week (October 11 through 13) rather than in two weeks due to this one being a rather short chapter. Along with the new chapter, I will also upload some very small concept art of Húdié's outfit on my Tumblr at shadowrabbit3593 so you can see what it looks like. Have a great day!!


	9. Lady Wifi

"You're doing a lot better with the Champions and fighting," Chat Noir praised before chuckling, "The feathers were a surprise though." 

"I'm so, so sorry! I didn't know you had allergies. I promise that'll be the last time he's a Champion. I just couldn't find anyone at the moment," Húdié apologized profusely. 

"No, that's fine! You didn't know. It's a learning process being partners," Chat smiled and looked out over the rooftops. Húdié deflated slightly.

"Yeah… Partners," she mumbled. She wished she could stop messing up all the time around him. A couple of days ago not only had she tripped a couple of times, forcing Chat to protect her, Húdié summoned M. Pigeon after M. Ramier was distraught from Coccinelle scaring away his pigeons. It was an easy Champion at the moment to call to protect André Bourgeois who was being targeted, but it didn't prove that successful in the end. Thankfully Coccinelle got annoyed and left, not wanting to deal with the birds. 

All in all it was a disaster. That didn't even include Chat having a severe allergy to feathers. That was especially embarrassing for her to make a big mistake like that in front of him.

Húdié sighed as she looked to Chat standing at the edge of the rooftop of Le Grand Paris making sure that the Bourgeois family was safe. Húdié repeated to herself that she had to keep their relationship strictly professional. As Chat said, no matter how much it hurt her to say it, they were just partners.

“So why do you think Coccinelle is after the Bourgeois?” Chat Noir asked. Húdié was thankful that this could allow her to think of anything else but her aching heart trying to accept the fact that their relationship would never be romantic.

“We don’t really know Coccinelle’s motive. All we gathered is that he is trying to get more information on the Miraculous as well as get ours. If he’s trying to gain more power and wealth then he’ll go after André Bourgeois. Chloé…” Húdié rolled her eyes, “doesn’t provide anything but a perfect hostage for bribing with her father as the mayor.”

“But she has her own blog she made about us. That’s important information,” Chat Noir said and Húdié actually laughed aloud. She then realized he was serious and her mood soured.

“Do you actually believe Chloé Bourgeois would do anything herself?”

“I happen to know her,” Chat growled. His emotions spiked up as he got increasingly upset but Húdié didn’t care.

“And so do I yet all I’ve seen from her is manipulation and selfishness. Sabrina, her classmate, is always doing her homework and getting her hands dirty for Chloé’s own personal gain. Anyone who knows Chloé knows that she pushes people down to help herself up.”

Chat’s ears were flat against his head as Húdié ranted about the nasty blonde.

"You take that back."

"What? The truth? All Chloé is and ever will be is a prideful and incompetent human being," Húdié scoffed.

The elevator doors of the hotel opened and none other than Chloé Bourgeois appeared with Sabrina by her side holding both of their phones. Chloé's phone was easily recognizable with the glittering studs on it.

"I heard from Père that you were up here so I decided that this would be a perfect time for an interview for my blog," Húdié recoiled at Chloé's confident attitude

"I would love to," Chat smiled and Húdié stared at him in shock. The two of them had decided not to talk to reporters for the sake of keeping them safe and here Chat was breaking their word for Chloé right in her face

"Chat, you know we can't," Húdié warned but the black-clad hero ignored her, starting to talk to Chloé. She felt his irritation and his tail twitched as he purposely talked to the blonde in spite.

"Fine. I have to go," Húdié said coldly and raced off the roof and towards her home, fuming.

She slammed her skylight a little too harshly, detransforming quickly as her butterflies flew around her outdoor garden, startled by her sudden arrival.

Marinette struggled to open her cream puff container, growling in anger.

"Marinette, let's take a deep breath," Nooroo said but Marinette clutched her hair.

"I can't believe him! He knows how risky it is yet he does an interview! For Chloé too!" Marinette grabbed a pillow from her chaise and screamed into it.

"Or you can do that…" Nooroo mumbled as he watched his holder storm around the room.

It took a while until Marinette finally calmed down, sitting on her chair with a huff. She saw the unopened cream puff container and panicked.

"I'm sorry, Nooroo," Marinette apologized and yanked open the container, pushing it over to Nooroo who had settled down on a small pillow that she had made for him.

"It's okay, Marinette."

"No, it's not. I'm supposed to be looking at for you and here I am ranting about some stupid boy," Marinette sighed, slumping in her seat.

"You care for him and this is upsetting for you since he is supporting a long time bully of yours. You have a right to be upset."

"Chloé has been nothing but mean to me and everyone else since I met her. I don't believe there is a good bone in her body yet Chat defends her. It doesn't make sense," Marinette sighed again and rested her head on her desk, looking at Nooroo. "What should I do?"

"Maybe there is more to Chloé that you don't know that Chat Noir can see? I'm not saying to forget what she has done to you because it has been very hard for you in school, but maybe there's a reason for her attitude. As you develop your powers you can feel the deeper emotions of people around you the closer you get to them. You might find that Chloé has some insecurities you weren't able to perceive before. Sometimes people that hurt others do it because they themselves are suffering. And they struggle to express their pain properly so they internalize it to form something that seems monstrous but is actually a defense mechanism. Remember though, that doesn't take away how she treated you. She needs to learn that what she has done is wrong and fix it herself, and that isn't something done overnight." Nooroo let Marinette quietly sink this in, the young holder frowning in deep thought.

"But how can anyone change Chloé?" Marinette asked.

"Only those that Chloé respects can actually change her. No matter how hard you try, you personally won't be able to help Chloé recognize her mistakes even though you can give some help and show her the way. Someone close to her though will be able to make Chloé realize her actions have consequences but that will take time."

"Not enough time," Marinette let out a third sigh when she suddenly felt a high spark of rage in the city. The two perked up immediately.

"That's Alya," Marinette recognized the anger that had been flaring up as of late and turned on her computer while pulling out her phone to see the text messages from the red-head.

It seemed like Chloé was live-streaming her interview with Chat Noir and thousands of people were watching it on her false blog. Alya ended up calling Marinette who picked up right away.

"I can't believe her!" Alya seethed. "I've been doing so much with the blog and  _ she _ of all people gets the first ever interview?"

"You haven't gotten any luck getting it back?" Marinette asked and Alya grumbled.

"Not at all. Not even my pictures." 

Marinette pulled up the live interview to find it consisting of Chloé fixing her hair and batting her eyes at Chat.

"What a tease, Chat! You know how to work the ladies!" Chloé was saying. Marinette rolled her eyes.

"It's awful. She's just flirting with him," Marinette scoffed. Alya said something rude about Chloé as she started watching it too.

"Oh. Well I don't mean to be that expressive," Chat chuckled happily, completely different than a few minutes before when the two of them were arguing.

"Do you have anyone cute you have your eyes on?" Chloé asked with a fake innocence.

Chat's face broke into a bright grin and Marinette couldn't help but feel her heart skip a beat at it, "Actually I do."

"Care to tell us his or her name?" Chloé asked. Marinette paled. If Chat said anything about his personal life then that could be used against them. 

“Her name is-” Chat’s ears twitched and he turned around, pulling out his baton and deflecting a blow from Coccinelle who appeared out of nowhere. Chloé screamed and got down and the camera fell from the recorder’s hands, cracking the screen and leaving the audio to play.

“Get inside!” Chat yelled and there were more screams and clanging as the two fought.

"I have to go film this," Alya said and hung up at a perfect time.

“Let’s go,” Marinette said to Nooroo who finished his cream puff.

“We need to get there quickly. Try to find a good Champion on the way there,” Nooroo said and Marinette nodded.

“Wings Rise!” she called out and her transformation washed over her. At once Húdié focused on who to summon, but everyone was too scared to be a proper Champion, except for one person. It was risky, but it had to be done.

Húdié rushed out of her home and towards the spark of anger still raging within Alya. She was surprised to find that Alya was already headed to the scene by the time she caught up and landed in front of the reporter.

“Húdié!” Alya exclaimed in surprise.

“Alya, I need your help to stop Coccinelle,” Húdié said and Alya grinned, her anger fading as excitement took over.

“Of course!”

“You need to promise me though not to lash out at Chloé. Even though she has wronged you, she’s a victim that needs saving. If I notice you going against that then I will take your power at once, understand?” Húdié said sternly. Alya realized the seriousness of the situation and the excitement slightly withered.

“Yes,” Alya replied.

“I’ll take you up to Le Grand Paris and transform there so I have more time to fight. Ready?” she asked and Alya nodded energetically. Húdié lifted up Alya and jumped up onto the window sills and wall-jumped between buildings until she was on the roof. She ran with Alya in her arms and jumped across buildings, causing Alya to gasp and hold on tightly as they flew.

“How come you have to jump and climb more than the other two?” Alya asked and Húdié couldn’t help but laugh at the reporter already using their time to ask questions while she could.

“I don’t have an extending baton or yoyo to take me to the rooftops so I have to climb more but my suit on the other hand has small needles that can grip onto walls so I can hang on to things rather than finding a place holder while I climb. The climbing and jumping is more tiring but I’m training more in and out of the suit to make up for it.”

“So you have to work out more to keep up the hero powers?” Alya asked and Húdié nodded.

“The suit gives you amplified powers, but it can only do so much to expand on your own fitness and stamina levels. That’s why I had to work more so I can be stronger in the suit. That’s also why Coccinelle is physically stronger than the two of us,” Húdié landed on Le Grand Paris and opened her cane. The butterfly landed on her hand and she pressed a kiss to it before letting it go.

The butterfly fluttered towards Alya who stuck out her phone, the butterfly landing on it and entering. 

“Shall we uncover the truth about Coccinelle as any reporter would?” Húdié asked Alya.

“A reporter always reveals the truth, and there are no exceptions to supers!” Alya gripped her phone with a grin.

“Then let’s go, Lady Wifi, and unveil the mystery,” Húdié smiled at the new Champion and the two ran into Le Grand Paris. 

Lady Wifi ran into one of the hallways and slipped into the phone of a nearby guest who dropped it in surprise while Hudie paused in the stairwell, waiting for the Champion to find Coccinelle by looking through Lady Wifi's eyes.

Lady Wifi rose out of Sabrina’s phone and Húdié recognized that it was Chloé’s room. Noises could be heard from outside as Chat Noir fought Coccinelle.

“Go outside and help Chat Noir!” Húdié yelled and blinked away Lady Wifi’s view, returning to the stairwell and following the sounds of the attack that was two floors below.

Húdié burst through the stairwell just as Coccinelle was bearing down on Chat Noir. She threw her cane and it struck the spotted villain in the head who pulled back with a glare. Chat Noir knocked the villain down with his baton and kicked Húdié’s cane back to her.

She grabbed it and charged at Coccinelle who called for his Lucky Charm. They stared at the spotted cellphone in his hand before he rushed forward to attack. Húdié stared at the phone curiously as Chat defended the blow when the idea hit her.

“Lady Wifi, come out now to help!” she called out but there was no reply. “Lady Wifi?”

Coccinelle knocked Chat Noir back and Húdié lunged for the villain but Coccinelle managed to block her cane and revert it back onto her, the cane whacking her painfully in the ribs and sending her flying. She crashed through the doors behind her and tumbled into Chloé’s room where it seemed like the were filming something.

Lady Wifi stood over Chloé menacingly who was trapped against the wall. A purple pause icon was frozen over Sabrina while a purple record icon hovered over their heads.

“Repeat what you said!” Lady Wifi shouted as Coccinelle marched towards Húdié with his hand outstretched. Chat Noir rushing in from behind to stop him only to get knocked aside with a hard blow.

“I stole the Noir New blog from Alya Césaire just so I could get a ton of followers and forced people to do it! Now please let me go so he doesn’t get me!” Chloé wailed.

“Why would I want you when your idiocy gave me exactly what I wanted?” Coccinelle grinned and advanced towards Húdié and she finally realized why the rich blonde had been targeted. Coccinelle knew the fastest way to get to through to the heroes was through the media and aiming for the person with the closest connection with them would be the best. His only mistake had been getting the wrong information and thinking it was Chloé who was in charge of the news for the heroes, but it only benefited him in the end when they did the live-streaming of the interview that allowed for Coccinelle to know exactly where they were and attack them while Chat's guard was down.

“Lady Wifi! Now!” Húdié shouted in slight panic. Lady Wifi vanished and the spotted phone in Coccinelle’s hand lit up. Lady Wifi was suddenly there, knocking Coccinelle back with a violent kick. He stumbled but looked at the phone his hand in interest as the two heroes recovered.

Chat Noir charged again and Coccinelle easily avoided it, knocking the hero down. He threw the yo-yo at Húdié and bound her while crushing Chat Noir below his foot.

As Chat wheezed, Lady Wifi vanished and the spotted phone lit up once again. This time though, Coccinelle tossed the phone out the open doors and unwound the yo-yo, wrapping it around the door knobs and tightening them so they slammed shut just as Lady Wifi appeared outside of the room.

“Got rid of one of them,” he said as Húdié got in front of Chat and pulled him up and away from the spotted villain. The two caught their breaths as Coccinelle barricaded them inside the room with a chair, keeping Lady Wifi out.

Húdié’s brooch chirped. Chat’s ears flattened. Coccinelle grinned. Húdié looked around the room and spotted Sabrina’s phone still on the floor but not seen yet by the villain.

“Wait for my signal, Lady Wifi,” she breathed. Chat's ears twitched as he heard and he prepared himself.

“Okay,” Lady Wifi replied.

Húdié continued to scan the room to see how they could escape this when suddenly Chloé took action and started throwing pillows at the villain.

“Get out of my room, creep!” Chloé screamed.

Húdié decided this was the best time and nodded for Chat to attack. The two rushed forward and started to distract Coccinelle as well. They ducked and rolled out of the way and Coccinelle growled in irritation as a pillow smacked him in the face.

“Now,” she breathed to Lady Wifi who appeared through Sabrina’s phone on the floor. Húdié tackled Chat Noir who let out a yelp of surprise as Lady Wifi launched a volley of attacks, pausing Coccinelle in the process. 

The room went suddenly still. Chloé stopped throwing things, Chat Noir and Húdié got up from the floor, and Lady Wifi lowered her phone as they stared at the paused Coccinelle who couldn’t move.

“We did it,” Chat said and Húdié nodded numbly as they approached the villain. Lady Wifi also came forward and gave an experimental tug on the mask but it didn’t come off.

Lady Wifi turned around and moved the recorder icon from in front of Chloé to Coccinelle.

“Looks like today we’re revealing everything! Chloé being a manipulative liar, Coccinelle’s secret identity, now all we need for icing on the cake are the heroes,” Lady Wifi suddenly turned on the heroes and threw lock icons at them, sealing their wrists in place.

“What are you doing?” the heroes cried out.

“The people need to know the truth! That’s what I’m here for! ‘A reporter always reveals the truth, and there are no exceptions to supers!’” she repeated what she had said right before getting akumatized.

“Stop Lady Wifi,” Húdié commanded as the Champion tried to pull off the mask on Coccinelle with no avail. Lady Wifi growled but the urgent chirping on Húdié brooch caught her attention.

“Oh! I have to pull off the Miraculous don’t I?” she said.

“Stop!” Húdié was about to force back the butterfly from her Champion when Chloé suddenly ran forward and grabbed Lady Wifi’s phone, throwing it to the ground and cracking it. The butterfly flew out and the locks on their wrists vanished as Lady Wifi reverted back to Alya. Húdié ran forward and picked up her cane, catching the butterfly within it and releasing the energy stored within.

Coccinelle’s earrings went off as he recovered, but luckily he was too dazed to fight and ended up fleeing. Chat Noir didn’t pursue this time, instead he stared at the scene laid out before them.

Alya was recovering and gasped in horror when seeing her broken phone. Chloé was ranting about her own damaged room and phone while Sabrina blinked, confused at what just happened.

“Alya,” Húdié said. The reporter looked at the hero who wasn’t pleased, “I’d like to talk outside.”

Alya nodded glumly and went outside. Meanwhile Húdié turned to Chloé and did her best to smile.

“Thank you for your help today.”

“Of course! I’m just that amazing,” Chloé huffed proudly and Húdié’s smile went stiff as she bid farewell and headed outside the room where Chat was waiting with Alya.

“I trusted you to stop Coccinelle because he was a villain and I deemed that you were a good person to be my Champion. Not only did you break my original promise and go after Chloé in revenge, you also almost revealed our identities. If word gets out who were are, our lives are at stake. Your actions not only risked our lives and those of our family and friends, but also all of Paris. Do you understand why these masks are on our faces?” Húdié asked Alya who nodded. She could detect the remorse and guilt swarming around Alya and recognized Alya’s acceptance of the consequences of her actions. 

“We’re not celebrities that go around making money by being famous. We’re heroes sent to defend the people because they can’t do it themselves. We’re the only thing stopping evil from taking over. If any one of our weaknesses are revealed, then not only do we lose, but Paris loses as well. That’s why we haven’t interviewed with anyone. Chloé’s live interview today almost got Chat captured and I don’t want that to happen to my partner.

“I understand that this blog means a lot to you, but please consider us and imagine yourself in our shoes before you post anything that might reveal any private information about us. I know you want the truth to be revealed, but sometimes the truth must remain hidden to protect the ones we care about.”

“I’m sorry,” Alya mumbled. “I didn’t mean to be that forward and personal with you both. I just wanted to get more of a close up experience with heroes, but doing that caused you both issues. I promise I’ll fix that behavior,” she said sounding more determined.

Húdié smiled and put a comforting hand on Alya’s shoulder, “Thank you.”

The heroes headed upstairs to the roof and Húdié sighed as her brooch chirped again. She only had two minutes left. Today was yet again another disaster.

“Good work today,” she turned to Chat with a smile and raised fist but his ears were down as he looked away.

“I’m sorry for today. I shouldn't have done that interview with her. I was just so mad I didn’t think straight and wanted to bother you but ended up causing issues. I also misjudged Chloé and thought that she could do good. I never saw that side of her before and I was appalled she would do such a thing to someone else. Sure she isn’t the nicest person all the time and does some things that aren’t good, but today….” Chat trailed off. 

“I should apologize too. I did say some rude things about Chloé just to get you to understand that she isn’t who you think but I ended up upsetting you since you think differently of her. I also didn’t choose a good Champion today and that also caused issues. I should’ve put more thought into who I was selecting. I risked our identities today as well,” Húdié said. Her brooch chirped urgently.

“You should go. We can talk about this tomorrow during patrol,” Chat stuck out his fist. “Partners?”

Húdié smiled and bumped it with her own, “Partners.”

“I’ll get the Noir reporter home,” he said.

“Thank you,” Húdié smiled in relief before waving and taking off quickly into the night.

It was a short trip home, Húdié much faster running across rooftops and making it home just as her transformation vanished. Marinette caught Nooroo in her hands and put him on his pillow on her desk before slipping downstairs and grabbing some leftover cookies and bringing them back up.

She handed them to Nooroo who ate them quietly. Marinette could feel the slight disappointment in Nooroo and she hunkered in her desk chair, holding her legs tucked against her chest.

“I shouldn’t have chosen Alya. She and Chloé have too much resentment towards one another which cost us our Miraculous. And since she’s a reporter she risked our identities as well.” Tears started to brim Marinette’s eyes, “I’m not cut out for this, am I?” Nooroo’s disappointment vanished to sympathy.

“No! You’re doing great! It’s hard to be a hero and especially for you to be the Butterfly. You have to not only assess the target quickly and pick the right Champion to beat the conflict, you have to also make sure the Champion doesn’t let their emotions get the better of them as we saw today. A Champion that gets out of control can end up being a nuisance than a help, which is why picking positive emotions is always better. Alya turned to her anger towards Chloé and prioritized that because you gave her powers, taking advantage of your kindness because she is your friend. Not only that, she became a Champion to seek the truth, and because of that urge to find out the truth could have revealed you both if Chloé hadn’t stepped in.”

“I just feel like I’m not doing any good. I keep messing up in front of Chat and then I haven’t picked good Champions. I’ve got no leads on Coccinelle and we're nowhere close to defeating him. Not only that, he always seems to pulverize us every time we fight hand to hand.”

“This seems like you have a lot on your plate. How about we take each of those issues and solve them step by step? First let’s make our long term and short term goals. Our long term will be revealing Coccinelle and getting leads on his mission. The more he comes out the more we’ll know, but for now we must prepare for that. That’s where our short term goal can come in. You and Chat Noir are both much smaller compared to Coccinelle so you need to learn ways to fight him hand to hand without him using sheer force. How can you solve that?” Nooroo asked.

“Maman said she learned Kung Fu as a child. Maybe she can teach me or can show me a studio nearby? That way I’ll be able to surprise him.”

“Good! That’s one thing down! Now we’ll focus on picking Champions. When you pick someone, always remember to focus on two things; what they want and how they feel at the moment. Today we say that while Alya was excited, she had initially been angry at Chloé so she used that anger still within her as a way of forming her Champion. Even though you release that excitement into the butterfly which gave it energy, it still reacts to how the person is feeling deep down. So while Alya had been excited, that anger was still within her also reacted to the butterfly. Then Alya wanted the truth from Chloé and the heroes identities, so that will she carried passed into the Champion who retained those same desires and went after the truth. Which is why the Butterfly must be very persuasive in getting what they want. If you can persuade the person enough before they become a Champion, their will and desires shall be more aligned with your own which is what we need.”

“So I need to focus on persuading the person to work with me before having them become Champion,” Marinette and Nooroo nodded.

“You did very well with that during Stoneheart, convincing your friend Ivan to stop Coccinelle in order to help Mylène. I have to say that by far was one of your most impressive Champions, especially since it was your first,” Nooroo praised and Marinette’s spirits lifted. She smiled warmly at the kwami and gently scooped him up. The two of them nuzzled and Marinette sighed, feeling better.

“Thank you Nooroo, I don’t know what I would do without you. I always get too stressed about everything and try to do it at once. Thank you for showing me a better way of handling all of this.”

“Of course, Marinette! We’re a team just as much as you and Chat Noir are a team! We’ll do this and defeat Coccinelle, one step at a time. So what’s our first step?”

“Learn a better way of fighting Coccinelle head on,” Marinette said.

“And how will we improve as Húdié?”

“Communicate better with our Champions,” Marinette responded firmly and Nooroo beamed.

“Perfect! Now what do you need to do right now before going to bed?”

Marinette blinked in confusion, “What do I need to do?”

“Homework!” Nooroo chirped.

“I forgot to do my homework!” Marinette wailed and Nooroo chuckled as he watched his holder panic and pull out her work, fondly smiling at the young girl who scribbled away furiously into the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's a link to what Húdié's design looks like! Hope you like it!  
> https://shadowrabbit3593.tumblr.com/post/188306726559/heres-h%C3%BAdi%C3%A9-from-my-mlb-fic-the-wings-of-burden
> 
> I also hope you were all able to take some lessons from this chapter. While it's good to be kind and forgive others, never let others invalidate your feelings which is important because those feelings help shape who you are. By letting others affect you in negative ways, you end up putting yourself in a mindset that agrees with their thoughts and lowers your self-esteem along with them being able to abuse your love. Remember that sometimes the best kindness and love you can give is to yourself :)


	10. Animan

Marinette’s head hit the library desk and she jolted awake, rubbing her forehead in pain. She looked up sheepishly at Félix who seemed rather unamused.

“If you need to sleep, you should go home,” he said. Marinette shook her head and patted her cheeks.

“I need to finish this design and if I go home to work on it I might fall asleep. Aurore from Mme. Mendeleiev's class noticed my work and asked me to make her a weather dress for the kids Weather Announcer competition. The voting is next week so I need to have this done by the end of this week. Plus Mylène asked me to fix a hat for her dad and she needs that in a couple of days."

"I've seen people push themselves to their breaking point at my father’s company; you won’t help yourself by forcing your body beyond its limits. There’s a point where progress declines as exhaustion wins over,” Félix said but Marinette shook her head.

"I'm fine, the hat isn't even that complicated. I just need to add a piece to it and then I'm finished," she waved her hand in dismissal. If only he knew that she had pushed herself to the max a long time ago. Trying to get her designs out into the world as well as helping the bakery had already been tiring, and now being a hero was added icing on the cake. Her Maman had agreed to train Marinette on their free time until they found a good studio for Marinette to train at. Sabine was also interested in joining her daughter, seeing how dangerous it was with Coccinelle running about and attacking at random.

In conclusion, Marinette was drained. She knew she was putting too much on herself and this would eventually catch up to her, but if she grew stronger Marinette could become better as a hero which would at least make one thing in her life easier.

"That reminds me of that interview the heroes had with your friend. You made her outfit for the celebration of the reactivation for her account, correct?" Félix asked. Marinette nodded.

Since the Lady Wifi incident was broadcasted everywhere, everyone found out that Chloé stole Alya’s blog so they angrily called out the people that helped Chloé. When everyone found out the connections between the companies that helped Chloé were linked to André Bourgeois, no one wanted to vote for him in the upcoming election so the mayor decided to grant Alya full access to her blog again and give her an honor to be the Youth Reporter to the Heroes which allowed for her to have full access to her blog with no worries of anyone trying to copy it again as well as give the mayor some of his votes back.

“I suppose it all worked out in the end. I’m surprised the heroes agreed to do an interview with Alya even though they’ve been avid to retain any information about them from the media,” Félix said.

“Alya told me that the heroes said they can do pre-recorded interviews just so their location can’t be determined by Coccinelle. And the interview must be strictly professional, unlike the interview Chloé had with Chat Noir.”

Félix rolled his eyes and returned to his book, “Chat Noir nearly ruined the life of the one he cares for by revealing her identity. It was a blessing in disguise that Coccinelle had arrived at that moment to strike. Who knows what would have become of the girl if he had done that.”

Marinette fumbled with her pencil as she felt an overwhelming remorse from someone behind her crash over her. She quickly turned around and saw someone with green eyes and blond hair staring back at her, eyes full of guilt.

She let out a soft gasp and rose up from her chair. It couldn’t be…

The person turned and ran out of the library as Marinette stared after him in surprise.

“Chat?” she breathed. She knew he went to this school after the incident with the Pharaoh but never expected to actually  _ meet _ him. But he was there. He had been in the library right there with her. Just the thought made her heart skip a beat.

“What’s wrong?” Félix asked. Marinette turned back to him as he observed her with a frown.

“Nothing, I heard someone behind us and got startled."

Before Félix could reply his phone chirped and he glanced down and sighed, “My driver is here.”

“I’ll head out with you then. I can get the hat and top done at home with the material I already have so that will keep me awake rather than sketching the design,” Marinette collected her things and the two walked out together. They passed by Max and Kim who were excitedly talking about the new panther exhibit that opened in the zoo that Alya’s dad works at, catching Marinette’s attention shortly as they continued walking.

Adrien was waiting for Félix outside of the car and when Marinette waved to him, he gave a meek wave back. Marinette could feel that he was upset, but he climbed into the car as Félix said his farewell to Marinette and ordered her to get some sleep. Marinette laughed which only made Félix frown more.

“I’m serious. Your health is important,” his eyes only expressed concern for her which took Marinette by surprise until the blond turned and went to his car.

Marinette walked home as their car drove off. Nooroo slipped out and hid on her shoulder, blending in well with the purple jacket Marinette wore.

“You should get some sleep. You still have to babysit Manon today,” Nooroo reminded her and Marinette groaned.

“I completely forgot about Manon. I don’t know if I’ll be able to play with her without falling asleep.”

“Which is why you should nap for a little bit,” Nooroo encouraged but Marinette shook her head.

“You know how I get when I nap. I’ll just be even more of a mess when I wake up. Maybe I can just tell Chat Noir I can’t patrol tonight. But what if he’s also busy too then he might not be able to go the whole time either. Ugh this is so difficult,” Marinette said as Nooroo flew back into her purse. They arrived at the bakery and Tom greeted Marinette with a kiss on the cheek.

“You look exhausted. Make sure you sleep after you finish your homework,” he told his daughter.

“I will, Papa,” she said and trudged her way upstairs to her room before collapsing on the chaise.

“We have a problem,” she said and Nooroo came out with a sigh.

“You seem to have overloaded yourself in a matter of days.”

“One thing at a time!” Marinette cheered instead. Nooroo couldn’t help but smile at the enthusiasm.

“So what’s our first thing that needs to be done?”

“Homework!”

“Then?”

“Manon!”

“And then?”

“The hat and Aurore's outfit!” 

“And what the most important thing we can’t forget?” Nooroo asked.

“Patrol?” Marinette frowned.

“No, sleep!” Nooroo chided and Marinette giggled as the kwami poked her.

“I will I will! Later,” Marinette smiled.

“Not too late. How about you do some homework and when you get sleepy work on your outfit and switch between the two before Manon comes?” Nooroo suggested as he landed on her hands. Marinette kissed his forehead.

“I really don’t know what I would do without you,” she smiled happily and the kwami beamed with pride.

Marinette got to work with Nooroo helping now and then getting materials for the outfit or reciting some information in the textbook while Marinette wasn’t doing homework so she could also study. It surprised Marinette how much she got done with by the time Nadja arrived with Manon.

“Marinette!” Manon cheered and threw herself onto the teen. Marinette smiled as the girl hugged her tightly. Najda smiled at the two.

“I’ll be back late today, will you be able to keep an eye on her for a little longer? I’ll pay you extra for it,” Najda asked and Marinette hesitated, but when feeling how stressed Nadja was, smiled.

“Of course,” she answered.

“Yay!” Manon cheered and Marinette giggled. Najda kissed her daughter as she left and Marinette put away her work so it wouldn’t get ruined while Manon was there.

"Did you make these?" Manon held up a Chat Noir plushy Marinette had made. Next to it was Húdié and some of the previous Champions such as Stoneheart, Pharaoh, Timetaker and Timebraker, DJ Echo, and M. Pigeon. Lady Wifi was in the works with a few limbs already done. Even though she hadn’t been the best Champion, she still deserved a spot with the rest of them.

Marinette nodded with a small breath of relief as Manon admired the dolls. If they played with these then Marinette wouldn't have to worry too much about wearing herself out.

"Mama has been trying to find out more about the heroes. She's always busy at work now and Papa's getting busier too so no one is at home to play with me," Manon sighed and Marinette could feel the bitterness rumbling from within the girl. Marinette stared at Manon, watching her fiddle with the doll as if sad that they were the ones that took her mother from her. She could feel the emotions drooping off of the girl like a wilted flower; bitterness, loneliness, craving affection and just someone to be with her.

“You know, the sun’s pretty bright outside and I feel like the both of us are wasting a lovely day hiding in here. How about we go to the park? Or maybe try to find André and get some ice cream?” Marinette suggested and at once the wilted flower bloomed brightly as Manon perked up.

“Really?”

“If you’re on your best behavior and don’t let go of my hand when we cross the street-” Marinette didn’t have time to establish the rest of the rules when Manon tackled her, eyes alight.

“Let’s go right now!” she pulled the teen up and started to drag her to the trap door.

“Let me grab my wallet first,” she chuckled and grabbed her purse, opening it up to stick her wallet in it. She waited as Nooroo slipped in with a happy note and then followed the younger girl down who was excitedly jumping around in the kitchen.

Sabine smiled at the two as they headed out from the bakery entrance, “Enjoy!”

“You bet!” Manon cheered and Marinette waved as the two left, Manon dragging Marinette down the road.

Marinette checked her phone to see the latest posts on André the ice cream man. Supposedly his ice cream had magical properties to it and Marinette knew Manon would feel better in no time. 

“He’s in the zoo today so we can go there and check it out. I heard the panther exhibit just opened too,” Marinette grinned and Manon’s eyes brightened.

“Then let’s gooooo!” she dragged Marinette forward and the two headed out, giggling happily.

  
  


“I can totally beat it,” Kim scoffed.

“First of all that panther is a she, not an it!” the zookeeper snapped. “And secondly, you can’t beat it!”

“According to my calculations, with your current speed that we have calculated previously compared to the speed of a black panther which is approximately 79 kilometers per hour, it is not humanly possible for you to be the faster of the two.” Max said.

“Give me some satisfaction here, Max,” Kim said turning to his friend while the others shared uncertain looks with one another.

Félix hadn't expected to end up at the zoo until Max messaged him right after leaving school to come with him and visit the new panther exhibit. He was planning to enjoy his day off reading but he figured that Max would have something to show him that would be worth getting together. The teen was inquisitive and showed Félix several strategy board games on his birthday that were rather entertaining. 

He didn't account for Kim to be here, and especially the fact that the athlete would try to challenge every animal to some ridiculous competition that he would lose due to the fact that he didn't have the physical capabilities to do it.

It looks like Nino had also been invited and asked if Adrien would join them. Kim invited Alix to further rub it in her face that he could do these things but so far wasn't getting luck doing any challenges because the keepers wouldn't let him, such as currently.

"This panther cannot be beaten by any man, much less a child!" the zookeeper snapped. Félix worried that they were going to get kicked out when their attention focused on a little girl as she ran forward and tried to climb into the cage, ice cream all over her face.

"Manon!" they all looked in surprise as none other than Marinette ran forward and grabbed the child back who wailed.

"I want to pet the kitty!" the girl whined. Félix cringed, kids had always been a nuisance with their constant yammering in their high pitched voices. It seemed like nothing could appease them.

"The panther will bite you if you pet it! It's a wild animal!" Marinette scolded as she tried to wipe the ice cream off of the child's face who persistently wiggled around.

"Hey, Marinette! Do you think I’m faster than this black panther?” Kim asked as Marinette finally got the ice cream off.

Marinette stared at the group in surprise and the child took the chance to escape. Thankfully she didn't get that far as she ran into the zookeeper and Marinette was able to scoop her up.

"I want to see the kitty!" Manon screeched and everyone winced at the high voice. Félix noted that Marinette looked worse than when she had left and doubted she took his advice.

"I can tell you all about her!" the zookeeper boomed and he brightened up as he began talking with her. Meanwhile everyone went towards Marinette.

"You look awful," Alix said bluntly. Marinette shrugged.

"She's actually doing better than normal. Usually she's running everywhere and always messing with something. This time she's only running around and that's because she got ice cream from André."

"André?" Adrien asked and the others gasped.

"You don't know André's ice cream?" they exclaimed. Adrien flinched and Félix was glad he didn't ask.

"It's the best ice cream in the world but it's hard to get because he travels everywhere throughout Paris," Kim said excitedly.

"If you guys want he was still serving at the monkey exhibit not too far away, and there was a long line as we left so he might still be there," Marinette said. Before anyone could thank her though, the girl she was babysitting took off with a cheer and Marinette ran after the child in a panic.

"Let's go get some ice cream," Nino pointed to the direction of the monkey exhibit and they went off in that direction.

Félix never participated in outdoor activities since the twins had always been restricted, but he usually enjoyed them when there was a chance to. It always reminded him out his outings with Bridgette in the dream world she lived in. She said she could control what she wanted it to look like and she enjoyed the outdoors so that was the normal thing to expect.

The difference this time his company was far more energetic than normal.

Kim was nearly sprinting ahead to scout for André while making bets with Alix who was skating beside him. Not only that, he tried to trip the girl which caused bickering between the two. Max was being reasonable by using social media to get clues on André within the zoo to make sure he hadn't left his current location. Nino was chatting away with Adrien about a new mix of music he heard online and was inspired by.

"It says he should be around this corner up head," Max pointed and on cue Kim shouted at them to hurry up when he spotted the ice cream man.

Everyone excitedly ran ahead with the exception of Félix who sighed. They couldn't possibly expect him to run for something as simple as ice cream. The only things that could encourage Félix to do physical activity was his daily exercises his father planned for him and-

"Coccinelle!" people screamed and Félix whipped around as everyone behind him dispersed. Someone small crashed into his legs and he looked down to spot the young girl Marinette was babysitting sobbing in fear.

The girl recognized him and gripped his pants, "He's after Marinette!"

Félix looked far back to see Marinette running away from Coccinelle, the panther zookeeper trying to protect the teen.

"Go to those kids there," Félix ordered Manon to run to his friends. Félix was about to follow when he heard Marinette cry out and turned back just as the zookeeper was yanked back by Coccinelle's yo-yo and hit a pole hard, sinking to the floor unconscious. The villain turned towards Marinette.

Félix's feet took action for him and he ran towards Marinette who had a mind to run away, looking back at Coccinelle in fear.

"Marinette!" Félix shouted and she turned to face him. He hurried and grabbed her arm, pulling her in front of him and turning a corner towards the snake house. They could hear Coccinelle after them swinging from above and Félix opened the door of the house and ushered Marinette inside before slamming it shut, quickly herding her forward into the crowd of people that still hadn't realized the zoo was being attacked.

Marinette panted as Félix steered her through the crowd, keeping a secure hand on her shoulder.

“Why is he after you?” Félix asked.

“He’s trying to get to Alya so he can get to Chat Noir and Húdié. At this point he’s just targeting anyone with information on the heroes. He went after Mayor Bourgeois because he thought that Chloé had contact with the heroes, then when Chloé had the interview just went after Chat Noir directly. Now that he knows Alya is the real reporter, he’s going after her because she has access to them. I don’t know how he knew we were friends though,” Marinette caught her breath as they looked outside the windows of the exhibit to see Coccinelle had left. "I can't believe I didn't see it before."

Félix frowned suspiciously, suspecting that he might still be out there.

“We need to go back and help the zookeeper, he’s Alya’s father,” Marinette headed to the exit.

“He is?” Félix asked and Marinette nodded.

“He told me when I managed to catch Manon again and he was helping me entertain her when he mentioned Alya’s twin sisters that I’ve babysat once. I hope Manon’s okay. What if she got captured because Coccinelle knew I would try to go for her? She could be hurt and it’ll be all my fault-” Marinette started to worry but Félix squeezed her shoulder in comfort then realized that he was still holding it. He removed his hand quickly and awkwardly put it at his side.

“She’s fine. I told her to stick with the others so she should be safe with them. I can text Max if you want,” Félix said to comfort her but she wasn’t eased.

“We still need to check on M. Césaire,” Marinette fretted.

“You need to stay safe. If he’s after you then he’ll be waiting outside, that’s why I’ll go out with the crowd to find him and see what happened while you stay here.” Félix cut Marinette off as she opened her mouth to protest, “If you get caught then Alya will be blackmailed and the heroes will lose. You need to think of Paris as a whole, not just one person.” 

Félix watched her trying to make a counter argument before she hesitated, putting a hand on her purse. He relaxed as she nodded.

“You’re right. I’ll stay here,” she gave in.

“Hide over there in that section with the dense shrubbery. I’ll come back when the coast is clear,” he said and she complied, going over to where he pointed.

Félix turned and walked out quickly with the next group of people. Outside the people had seemed to calm down but were still murmuring anxiously. They were chattering while looking around the treetops of the zoo, yet from what Félix was observing, Coccinelle had moved on.

He hurried over to the fallen zookeeper only to notice he was missing. Félix scanned the area when movement caught his eye from the panther enclosure. He walked forward cautiously and frowned as the branches stilled. Something was in the bushes.

He approached and relaxed as he recognized the familiar pattern of the zookeeper’s shirt.

“It’s alright M. Césaire, it seems like Coccinelle left,” Félix said but the man only wiggled around more.

“I’m stuck,” M. Césaire finally said. Félix tried not to roll his eyes and started to help the man out of the bushes that had snagged his shirt. By the time he managed to get the man out, his own outfit was covered in dirt and leaves that he brushed off in displeasure. 

“Not a very good hiding place, I must say,” they glanced up to see Coccinelle watching them from above. “One is all I need anyway.”

Coccinelle threw his yo-yo but it was deflected as Chat Noir landed in front of them.

“You know, maybe if you had the Cat Miraculous they wouldn’t have slipped out of your claws,” Chat Noir grinned. Félix felt relieved as the villain now focused on the hero who was certain to protect them.

“If you gave me the Miraculous now we wouldn’t have to play this ridiculous game of cat and mouse. I’ve been merciful as of late but at this point I’m getting annoyed with your antics,” Coccinelle glared.

“Don’t worry, these antics are just getting started. Right, Animan?” Húdié landed beside the zookeeper who had a glowing mark on his face.

“Coccinelle, you entered the wrong den. Now face the beast within!” Animan growled and in a burst of lavender swirls, transformed into a large black panther similar to the one still caged.

“I’ll deal with him, Chat. Take the civilian to safety. Coccinelle cannot get your ring,” Húdié said and her partner nodded before scooping up Félix without any warning and took off. Félix let out an ungraceful noise as he gripped the hero who climbed up a lamppost and leaped off of it before landing next to the monkey exhibit they had been at previously, depositing the teen.

“Stay safe,” Chat said before extending his baton back towards the fight, Félix watching the hero leave with decreasing worry as the fight got farther away. He hoped that this would be the last time Coccinelle decided to go after another family. First the Kubel family had to go through this stress, then the Bourgeois even though no one really was upset about that, and now the Césaire family. 

“Félix!” he turned to see the teens running up to him, all of them frazzled. Nino was holding Manon who stopped crying, simply choosing to silently cling to the calm DJ.

"Where's Adrien?" Félix asked when he couldn't locate his brother in the group.

“Dude rushed to the bathroom and told us to wait here for you. Where’s Marinette?” Nino asked.

“She’s in the snake exhibit. I told her to hide there since Coccinelle was after her,” Félix answered.

“Poor thing, Coccinelle seems to have a mean streak with her,” Alix said and they walked briskly to the snake exhibit to find the designer. They entered to find it mostly empty with a few people deciding to hide there for the time being while the party of teens looked around for their friend.

Their casual search turned worrisome when Félix couldn't find Marinette in the spot they agreed on. Then it became frantic when they realized Marinette wasn't in the exhibit at all. Nino had to try to comfort Manon who picked up that her babysitter was missing and started crying again. Alix and Kim went in huge perimeter around their area to see if they could spot her while Félix and Max searched nearby the snake house. But she was nowhere to be found.

Marinette ran into the snake habitat, wheezing after barely managing to transform back in time at the zoo, crashing into a bush as she reverted into her civilian form. Chat Noir probably just finished dropping of M. Césaire and sure enough, Marinette could see him take off above in the sky from the skylight. He had been a lot of help today with getting Coccinelle and even got off one of his earrings before the villain used his Lucky Charm knocked the hero off of him.

Marinette looked around but couldn’t find anyone in the empty snake habitat. She grew worried, wondering if Manon was okay.

“I told you to stay here,” she turned sharply to find Félix sitting on one of the benches. He didn’t look pleased.

“About that...” Marinette tried to think of a lie at the moment as Félix rose from his seat, greyish blue eyes cold.

“I don’t want to hear any excuses. I told you to stay here for your safety and you left. You could’ve gotten hurt or captured and everyone would be in trouble. You don’t really seem to understand the situation we’re in with Coccinelle running about, do you?”

“I do-” Marinette started but Félix continued, anger lacing his words.

“Then why do you think it’s a great idea to go running off into danger? Have you looked at yourself? You’ve got scratches all over your face and your hair is a mess. You can barely stand and you’ve clearly worked yourself to the bone. When I advise you to rest you instead go stumbling around Paris with a hyperactive child. Do you not understand how dangerous it is for you to be in this state? You seem to lack any rational thought at the moment.”

“I can be rational,” Marinette mumbled.

“Then be rational,” Félix snapped.

Marinette gripped her purse as the weight of what Félix said bore down on her. He walked towards the exit and Marinette shuffled slowly from behind, realizing how ridiculous she must look right now covered in leaves and face all scratched up. Leaves fell from her hair and her body hurt where she had rammed into something while in the suit. She was tired. She was a mess. She couldn’t do this. 

Félix waited for her to get through the door, holding it open while trying not to look impatient as Marinette walked out. 

She felt her eyes brim with tears and she sniffled, trying to keep her emotions in place as Félix made his way to the others. His footsteps paused and Marinette looked at the floor so he wouldn’t see her face if he turned around to glance at her.

“I’m fine,” she mumbled and continued to pointedly avoid him as he approached her.

Instead of him standing there sternly he began to pull out the debris in her hair, his hands gentle and careful.

“You let people push you around all the time and never say no. I’m certain that you babysat today because of that same reason. Meanwhile Chloé constantly belittles you because you let her since you never do anything to stand up to her. She has no authority over you, yet for some reason you have this mentality that she can ruin your life with a single phone call when she can’t. You are an extremely brilliant person, Marinette. You shouldn’t let other people drain you of that,” Marinette stared at Félix in shock, not expecting him to say or do anything like that at all after his scolding. He stared at her in concern and Marinette looked away again, wiping the tears forming in her eyes. He waited for her to fix her hair and clothes before they headed off to meet with the others, the silence between them more comfortable than before

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I usually write a few chapters ahead and then I'll do a read-through of the chapter before I upload it to fix any errors and mistakes that I've made. I totally forgot how savage Félix was in this chapter lol
> 
> Also out of curiosity, who would be interested if I do continue Her Fall is her Downfall? Just want to get a head count to see if there are people actually interested in seeing more on that. It might take some time because I'm curious to see how Lila will be Season 4 because the canon version of her a villain is different than the way I will be making her in this story so I want to see what I can pull from on the canon version beforehand. If Season 4 takes a while I might just take from what we have of her right now


	11. Stormy Results

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a warning, there's going to be a good amount of jumping from different POVs in this chapter

"I heard Aurore lost the weather girl position but she was pretty mature about it," Alya said as the girls watched the blonde they were talking about walk past, head held high. Marinette disagreed with Alya, mainly because she could feel the frustration and disbelief pouring out of the girl despite her proud appearance. She wanted to comfort her but knew that right now was not a good time for Aurore to be approached by people. 

Unfortunately, Mirelle walked past as people swarmed her with compliments which caused her to nearly bump into Aurore. Everyone watched with bated breath as Mirelle stared at Aurore with a mix of horror. Aurore simply inclined her head in a graceful nod.

"Congrats on your win. I look forward to seeing how you progress," she said calmly and continued towards the locker room as Mirelle blinked in surprise and stuttered out a thanks.

"You really thought you had a chance?" Everyone tried not to groan as Chloé blocked Aurore's way, restricting her from entering the locker room.

"Please move," Aurore grit her teeth, already knowing what was going to happen and Marinette watched Aurore's grip on her backpack tighten as she mentally prepared herself for the worst.

"I'm glad you finally got knocked off your high horse. Always walking around with that snobbish attitude thinking that you're a gift from above destined to do amazing things. Quite the downfall I must say. In the end you flew too close to the sun and evaporated like a pathetic cloud, as you would say in your weather girl terms," Chloé scoffed mockingly. Alya sighed and started to make her way towards Chloé to intervene.

Marinette recalled what Félix had said to her the day before. Chloé couldn't do anything to her. Marinette was in charge of her life and she had the ability to stand up for what she believed in, not Chloé.

"That's enough, Chloé," Marinette said before she could stop herself. The entire courtyard who had been watching the two girls looked in surprise at the other girl standing to the side. Alya turned around, mouth agape. Marinette had never spoken up against Chloé like this.

"What did you say, Dupain-Cheng?" Chloé said icly. Marinette hesitated and bit her lip. This was a bad idea.

_You are an extremely brilliant person, Marinette. You shouldn’t let other people drain you of that._

"I said that's enough. You can't keep ridiculing everyone when you wouldn't even do something like that by yourself. Aurore took the chance and put in her best effort for the role, something you could never do," Marinette's voice rose as her confidence grew and she approached the two girls, standing in front of Aurore. "You undermine people when you've done nothing but flaunt your wealth and your _father's_ power. Not _your_ power."

"So that's how you're going to play, fine," Chloé jabbed a finger at Marinette's chest. "Time to tell M. Damocles you've been bullying me so you can get suspended. And if he doesn't listen I'll just-" Marinette scoffed as Chloé pulled out her phone.

"-tell your dad? First of all, you can't prove that I've been bullying you like you have bullied me for the past several years. And what will M. Damocles says when you try to suspend me when everyone in this entire courtyard saw I did nothing to you? There are more witnesses here that can prove me innocent. Even then, if you do suspend me because you manage to pull your father into this, everyone can threaten to move to another school when seeing how corrupt this one is. M. Damocles will side with the majority over one person because he doesn't want the school to close, even if that one person is the mayor."

Chloé pulled back in surprise, realizing Marinette was right. The designer crossed her arms, raising her head high. 

"So go tell M. Damocles and your dad. Go show them how you're being bullied," Marinette said firmly. Her heart hammered in her chest, hoping that the blonde would back down. But she never backed down.

A hand landed on her shoulder and Marinette absorbed the positive energy, the confidence, the pride, and happiness radiating from Alya who squeezed her shoulder while she glared at Chloé, "You may have the power to pick on one individual, but you alone cannot beat an army."

There was a long pause and everyone watched as the queen of the school drew back with a snarl, glaring at Marinette.

"You'll be sorry for this, Dupain-Cheng," she spat as she stormed away.

"I'm sorry you can't seem to do anything yourself," Alya called back and everyone cheered as Chloé fled, Sabrina on her tail.

“Thank you,” Aurore said and Marinette could hear the relief in her tone that echoed her own feelings towards the situation.

“We need to start standing up for ourselves and protecting one another. 'All that is necessary for the triumph of evil-'”

“'-is that good people do nothing,'” Alya finished for Marinette with a smile before pulling Marinette into a hug, “I’m so proud of you for standing up to her.”

“I was so terrified but that actually felt good,” Marinette admitted. Alya rubbed her on the back and pulled away when their classmates came over.

“That was the coolest thing ever,” Kim said in awe. “Even cooler than Chat Noir and Húdié.”

“Now I want to say something to her!” Nino pumped his fist excitedly and Marinette laughed.

“You should run against her in for class president!” Rose chirped but Marinette balked.

“I’m not ready for something as big as that yet. Why don't you guys? If I can do it then you can too!”

“Stand up to Chloé myself?” Kim laughed with a shake of his head. “She’s way to scary for me still.”

“Even though I got my blog back, I’m still worried that Chloé might do something else to mess with me so I’d rather not go neck and neck with her. Plus with my booming popularity from getting it back, I have no time to focus on running a campaign,” Alya shrugged.

“Chloé doesn’t scare me,” Alix said.

“Then you should run!” Marinette perked up but Alix shrugged.

“Being a leader isn’t my thing. I rather do my own stuff instead. Max would be a good rep if he wasn’t too busy making his new robot.”

“He’s more than just a robot I’ll have you know. Markov is going to be one of the greatest pieces of technology in the world. I’m advancing on his artificial intelligence everyday and by the end of this month he’ll have one of the fastest processors that have been seen in-” the bell interrupted Max’s detailed description of his new project and allowed the class to escape from the rambling that was far too advanced for their mindset.

They hurried to class and settled in, everyone giving Marinette a happy greeting either by patting her back, smiling, or giving her a thumbs up.

When Chloé came in, the room fell silent and they all glared at her. She pointedly ignored them and got seated, Sabrina shuffling in anxiously after her. Félix entered right in front of Mlle. Bustier and Marinette glanced at him, wondering if he had seen what she had done. She forced back her grin when he nodded at her as he made his way to his seat as class started.

“So before we begin class I would like to announce two points. Gabriel Agreste is hosting his hat competition here at school so anyone who is interested can sign up with me later today. Also the voting for class president will be hosted in the upcoming week. If anyone is interested please let me know.”

“I want to be the class president,” Chloé rose her hand haughtily in the air. 

“Anyone else thinking of running?” Mlle. Bustier asked and Chloé glared at the rest of the kids in class who shrank back, finishing her nasty look at Marinette. As Mlle. Bustier looked around hopefully for another candidate, Marinette started to lose faith in herself. She couldn’t really do this. She didn’t have time to even be class rep with everything from the bakery, Najda requesting more babysitting, commissions, and being a hero. This was ridiculous. She could fail before she even had a chance.

A small weight landed on her leg and Marinette looked down to see her purse pressing against her, Nooroo’s comforting waves trying to relax Marinette and tell her that it was alright if she couldn’t do it.

“If no one else wants to run…” Mlle. Bustier was saying as she scanned the class. Marinette noticed her teacher's earrings twinkle and caught the small butterfly earrings she wore.

Marinette was a hero. She couldn’t let Chloé do what she wanted and mess with the rest of the class. She had to help her classmates and friends. Chloé had been pushing everyone around for too long because she always had some access to power, but this time Marinette wasn’t going to let her get it.

“I’ll run,” Marinette said and the class gasped, looking at Marinette once again in awe as the girl stared determinedly at Mlle. Bustier. Chloé shot the foulest look to the designer who glared back in return.

The campaign was on.

  
  


“She’s idiotic,” Félix said as he laid back on the grass.

“I think she’s cute,” Bridgette laid next to him, making a flower crown. Her steady fingers expertly folded the stems and secured one after the other as it grew bigger and bigger.

“I told her to stand up for herself against Chloé so the first thing she does is run for class president. And she wants her friend to be vice president no less.”

“Alya the news reporter?” Bridgette asked for clarification. Félix sat up and nodded.

“As of late, Alya’s always busy and said she wouldn’t have time to help out because of the increased popularity of her blog. Then when Marinette decides to run suddenly she’s available to be vice president? Marinette’s going to end up doing all of the work. It’s as clear as day.”

“Marinette’s going to be pretty stressed out. She seems to have a lot on her plate,” Bridgette put the flower crown on Félix’s head. The blond looked like a grumpy angel sent down from above who didn’t want to be there in the first place but was forced to help.

This gave Bridgette an idea, “Why don’t you be her vice president?”

“Me?” Félix asked.

“Marinette needs help and from what you say, no one is really interested in supporting the class except for Marinette. She’s the only one who seems to care. And that’s a big burden on one’s shoulders, especially if she’s already busy with other things outside of school. I’m worried her wings aren’t going to be able to take it,” Bridgette murmured as a butterfly landed on Félix’s crown. She extended her finger and it crawled onto it, letting her kiss it gently before it flew off.

“Bye bye, little butterfly,” she breathed with a smile. Félix watched it flutter off gently into the sky above.

Félix sighed and rubbed his face with his hands but was careful not to mess up the crown. Bridgette bit back her grin; he was always so gentle with her flower crowns when she made them.

Ever since they've known each other, Bridgette had known Félix didn’t enjoy his life at home. He talked about home with a dullness that rubbed her wrong despite her not having any knowledge of what a familial life should be like. Most of the time they sat there in silence in each other’s company. Sure it was comforting and peaceful, but Bridgette had nothing to talk about. Félix was her only source of seeing the world and his was so bleak. So every now and then she could test the waters and hope he dipped his toe in, but usually he didn’t which was slightly frustrating.

Then Adrien escaped home and went to public school which disturbed the stagnant waters of the Agreste household. Félix started talking about stories that Adrien got from school, meeting these mysterious people that Félix hadn’t even met yet. Then suddenly he’s enrolled into school and upset because he wanted to stay home where he was comfortable. Bridgette encouraged him to look at it positively and prayed that someone on the other side would be there for him.

As if hearing her prayer, Marinette was brilliant and smart and loved challenging herself which was exactly what Félix needed and Bridgette had hoped for. Today was a perfect example of the rash girl jumping into something she couldn’t yet handle and Félix's urge to help her. He never wanted to admit it, but Bridgette knew Félix wanted to help others but he just didn’t know how.

This was a perfect opportunity for him to grow as a person and meet new people as he worked with Marinette. She seemed like she had many connections and Bridgette knew that would allow Félix to make new friends outside of class. She didn’t even mind if Félix only stayed friends with those in his class since his new position would still allow for him to get to know them better. Bridgette wanted Félix to be happy, and sometimes he needed that push in order to do so.

“I can’t just let her do this alone,” Félix finally said.

“It’s up to you if you want to help her,” Bridgette said casually.

“Don’t think I haven’t picked up on that,” Félix rose an eyebrow at her. Bridgette blinked innocently.

“What?”

“You always say something along the lines of it being my choice to do something you secretly want me to do.”

“I think it would benefit you. Your father would approve of it because you’ll be learning more about your school and improving your communication skills as well as your social health,”

“If someone mentions my social health again I will seal myself in my room and never come out.”

“Don’t be like that, Féfé!” Bridgette giggled.

“Don’t call me Féfé.”

“You know you like it,” Bridgette teased as she poked his cheek. Félix rose up irritably.

“I despise it almost as much as my social health.”

“Be the social butterfly! Get out there and mingle!” Bridgette cackled as she got up and Félix shook his head. His flower crown stayed securely on his head.

“You’re annoying.”

“Very annoying,” Bridgette agreed. Félix gently took off the crown and placed it on her head.

“Very annoying,” he nodded, eyes gentle and warm. Bridgette held his hand as he lowered it and smiled warmly at him, linking their fingers together.

Then with a blink of her eyes he was gone. Bridgette stared at the place where he had been standing and she sighed softly, settling down into the grass and looking around her garden before laying back onto the grass and closing her eyes, waiting for night to come again.

“Are you certain that you want to cancel the meeting next week?” Nathalie asked. Gabriel nodded.

“Chat Noir and Húdié both responded abnormally fast yesterday. I’ve noticed they do whenever there are students of Adrien and Félix’s class in the area. This is my chance to find out if two of those students are the other wielders. I must find them. Emilie is relying on us to get that ring back,” Gabriel looked at his schedule for the next couple of weeks and hummed thoughtfully.

“Yes, sir?” Nathalie noticed his interest.

“Audrey Bourgeois wants to start opening up the fashion industry for the youth, correct?”

“That is correct, sir,” Nathalie said.

“Make the upcoming competition next week focusing on students, especially at Françoise Dupont. I’m curious at what bright students are hiding in the school.”

“I’ll notify Mm. Tsurugi that you will not be able to attend due to the presentation at school. She doesn’t seem to have a forgiving nature though,” Nathalie warned.

“I will compensate her later, this is more dire than establishing another connection in Japan. If I can locate the wielders then all of this will be over.”

“She might still want to bring her daughter, is that alright?”

“She can meet the boys. I’ll talk to André about hosting her until her mother arrives later. André understands the importance of maintaining proper connections which will make him courteous towards the Tsurugis due to their wealth. That’s the least of my concerns at the moment. What will this conference at the school be about?” Gabriel asked Nathalie.

“It’s called Parents Day where one of the parents of the student come in and talk about their professions in order to encourage students to broaden their horizons and find different career options that they may enjoy.”

“The two have a friend that is a designer, correct?” Gabriel recalled the bold girl that had spoken with him the day before his sons birthdays.

“Her name is Marinette Dupain-Cheng. Her parents are the owners of a bakery right next to the school. They were the ones that catered for the birthday party.”

“She seemed talented enough with her sharp eye. Maybe I can talk with her after this conference and see if she’s interested in touring the building with Félix. I’ll also encourage her to join the competition that will be hosted in the meantime in order to establish a stronger connection with her. I’ve noticed that she interacts with many of the students as annoying as she is always getting in my way. She interrupted me yesterday when I tried to get Mlle. Césaire’s father as well as Kubel’s daughter in the past. If I can get her to work under me, then I’ll have far more connections with the students in the school than now. The boys are building connections far too slowly. I expected Félix to increase his interactions and get more information for me when I enrolled him in the first place but it proved to be rather… disappointing to say the least. This Mlle. Dupain-Cheng might just be the key to get more information from the youth reporter as well as learn more about the students so I can find out who are the ones wielding the miraculous. Our priority is Chat Noir, so be observant when we visit,” Gabriel said and dismissed Nathalie. The secretary left after jotting down the notes needed for the meeting while Gabriel thoughtfully looked over the painting of gold, his wife’s gentle face sleeping peacefully in the painting.

“Soon we will free you. Just wait a bit longer, my love,” Gabriel murmured. There in the corner of the room, a red and black kwami sat watching the man who stared longingly at the painting. If she had a mouth her frown would be strongly defined, but since it was sealed up by the man wearing the Miraculous, she could only glare daggers into him. All she could do was wait for the heroes to come, and despite being alive from the beginning of time and developing patience over the thousands of centuries she had been around, Tikki couldn't wait for this man to fall.


	12. The Bracelet vs The Badge

Adrien sat down at his desk, leg bouncing up and down as he tried to listen to M. Raincomprix talk about his job. He couldn’t help but feel excited that his father was currently standing at the edge of the room in person.

Gabriel Agreste surprised the world coming to a simple Parent’s Day for his sons, pleasing everyone to see him finally getting out there after the tragic incident with his wife a year ago. He seemed healthy and radiated professionalism as he listened with rapt attention as M. Raincomprix finished his discussion.

It took all of Adrien’s willpower not to glance back at his father as Mlle. Bustier welcomed him to the front of the room. He instead waited for his father to come into sight before watching him walk to the front of the classroom, calm and poised.

“Your dad’s always so serious,” Nino murmured to Adrien.

“He’s got a reputation to keep. He always tells us that people will try to use any emotion we show to the media to ruin us so he always looks serious,” Adrien replied as the class’ curious murmurs settled down.

Gabriel started to speak and while Adrien knew everything his father was saying, he still listened with rapt attention, happy to see that for the first time his father was  _ there _ . 

Midway through the presentation though, Chloé rose up in a fury, holding an empty container.

“Where is my bracelet?” Chloé screeched. Everyone jumped in surprise while she almost immediately turned onto Marinette. “You stole it!”

“Are you serious?” Marinette exclaimed in exasperation.

“You’ve been after me for the longest time and this is the final straw! I can’t believe you would do something like this to me out of jealousy!” Chloé wailed and Mayor Bourgeois turned onto Marinette, pointing an accusing finger at her.

“How dare you come after my daughter like this! Return what you have stolen!”

“My daughter would never steal!” Tom Dupain strode to the center of the room and urged his daughter behind him and stood firmly in front of the mayor. While the mayor was a couple inches taller than the baker, Tom Dupain made up for it with muscle, far larger and more easily able to look intimidating than the lean mayor.

“Roger! Search this child at once!” Mayor Bourgeois ordered Roger Raincomprix. The officer paled, shaking his head.

“I can’t do that. That’s against the law to search without a warrant, not to mention she's a minor-”

“Are you going against me? Don’t you know that I am the mayor and thus your superior?” the mayor seethed.

“You aren’t above the law though. I am not allowed to search this young woman without proper evidence-”

“Then you’re fired,” the mayor growled. Everyone’s jaws dropped in surprise.

“You can’t fire me! You have no authority to do so!” Roger demanded. They watched as André pulled out his phone and made a call to the head deputy of the Paris police force.

“One of your men, Roger-” he paused on the last name as he realized he didn't know it.

“-Raincomprix,” Chloé aided him. Sabrina gasped and stared at her supposed friend in disbelief as Chloé helped her father fire Roger. Sabrina looked at Chloé pleadingly but the blonde was too focused on her father, listening gleefully as he spoke about Roger disobeying his authority along with other lies to get the man into more trouble.

The class stared in horror as Roger’s phone rang and sure enough, the head deputy fired him on the spot for not listening to the mayor’s orders. Roger looked stunned and took off his hat, walking out without another word to anyone. The door gently clicked shut behind him.

“But why, Chloé?” Sabrina asked, still trying to understand why her friend would stoop so low just to get revenge. Why she would betray her own friend within a heartbeat.

“Nobody gets in my way,” Chloé huffed. “Now onto Dupain-Cheng who stole my bracelet. Open your purse now.”

“No,” Marinette pulled her purse protectively behind her and away from Chloé’s eyes.

“That young man and woman right here were recording, can’t we check to see if they got any footage of the event happening?” Gabriel nodded at Nino and Alya who had in fact been recording and forgotten to stop as the whole scene played out.

As the two started to play the videos, Adrien noticed movement on the floor. He looked down to see Plagg rolling around, his head caught on a giant bracelet. A bracelet that was gold, purple, and gaudy enough to be considered perfect for a Bourgeois.

Adrien whacked his head on the desk as he lunged down and scooped up Plagg, shoving him into his over shirt as pain blasted through his forehead.

“Are you alright, Adrien?” Gabriel asked as Adrien sat up, holding his forehead. The class watched Adrien curiously as his eyes watered. He got up and started to make his way to the door.

“I was tying my shoe and saw a bug that freaked me out and I hit my head- oh wow this hurts a ton I’m going to go to the nurse’s office to make sure it’s not going to swell up you know because I have to model-” he continued to ramble as the door closed behind him and Adrien ran down to the locker rooms, sliding into the bathroom and pulling out Plagg when checking to make sure it was empty.

“What are you doing?” Adrien exclaimed in a panic, ignoring his throbbing head.

“That sounded like a hard bump, I hope it swells,” Plagg grinned. His eyes were covered by the big band around his head and Adrien watched the kwami’s ears twitch as he adapted to the new darkness.

“Why couldn’t that thing have covered your mouth instead of your eyes?” Adrien groaned.

“It’s because you would despair if you couldn’t hear my sweet voice- hey watch it!” Plagg hissed as Adrien grabbed Plagg’s rear and tried to pull him out.

“Get out of there!”

“Don’t you think I’m trying!” Plagg whined. “I thought it was fun since it was shiny and now it’s just a pain in my back! Literally! Stop pulling so hard!” 

Adrien grunted as he gave one last pull before letting Plagg go. The kwami bit him in the hand and Adrien yelped.

“What was that for?"

“I am a god! I used to be fed five course meals every day with the most delicate spices and nasty smells in the world! Now I’m being tugged around like a dog toy which is completely rude,” Plagg hissed.

Adrien smiled as an idea came to mind, “Spices you say?”

He shoved the growling kwami into his over shirt pocket and hurried away to the cafeteria to look for some spices to make the god sneeze his way out of there.

Meanwhile the classroom argument had escalated. Turns out Nathaniel had been drawing the bracelet which meant that he had seen it before so he could possibly have it. Anyone sitting close to Chloé was also being accused, Marinette still her primary target. Thankfully at Marinette’s gentle tap on her purse during the escalating argument, Nooroo had phased out of her purse and was hiding in the back rows of the classroom, cowering away from all of the frightening angry emotions.

Nooroo never liked it when people fought and argued. It was during these moments that the emotions swarmed violently around and made his head hurt. Clashing emotions were always hard to deal with and recently Nooroo has noticed that Marinette has not only been increasingly stressed with everything she has to do, but now she was constantly butting heads with Chloé. Nooroo hurt from every angry clash and he knew she felt it too but wasn’t able to identify her defending others as the source. This stress and was going to wear them out if she kept this up.

Yet Nooroo understood that Chloé needed to be stopped or else she would continue to harm other students and make their emotions distressed. No matter what someone had to suffer.

At least it was him. He didn't want his holder to be hurt. She had a good heart and was willing to take up the Miraculous, overcoming her fear and the added emotional cost it brought by wearing it.

Nooroo heard noise coming from the steps and he quickly took off and phased into and up the bookshelf, looking down below at who was coming up the steps towards him.

He stared at the person below with a second of recognition, the man’s familiar red pants and cravat making Nooroo stare at him curiously. Suddenly the dull pain echoing in his head the more he thought increased by tenfold, blinding the kwami as the searing pain stabbed into his head. Nooroo pulled to the back of the shelf in pain, making a whimper that was drowned out by a sudden cry of pain and a thump as Marinette collapsed onto the floor.

“Marinette!” Tom panicked as he went down to where his daughter laid. Gabriel stopped his search as the class crowded around the girl who gripped her head in pain.

“What’s wrong?” Tom asked but Marinette didn’t say anything. She panted as she clutched her chest as the throbbing in Nooroo’s own head increased, both letting out a pained groan.

“What’s going on?” Alya panicked.

“Get her to the nurse’s office!” Mlle. Bustier ordered and Tom picked up his daughter and carried her with Alya guiding the way. Everyone looked after them in worry.

“She’s acting. She definitely stole my bracelet,” Chloé huffed. The class whirled on Chloé about to say something when they were beaten by Sabrina.

“She’s obviously sick! Marinette wouldn’t mess around about something like this! Unlike you who thinks that you can do everything just because you have your dad! Well my dad was protecting the law and you got him fired! He didn’t do anything wrong! You- you-” Sabrina floudered as her emotions bubbled up and finally burst, “I don’t want to be your friend anymore!”

Before anyone could say anything, Sabrina grabbed her bags and stormed out sobbing. Everyone stood there dumbfounded for a second before Chloé growled.

“Fine, that’s her loss.” She huffed and turned towards Marinette’s bag, “Guess this is mine for the taking.”

The class roared out and Nino snatched Marinette’s bag away from Chloé. Ivan now stood in front of Chloé and glared down at her. Kim also surprisingly took a stand against Chloé and guarded Nino.

“That’s not yours to touch! Marinette wouldn’t ever steal from you so stop accusing her!” Ivan snapped.

“Go buy yourself another dingy bracelet,” Alix growled and also took a stand to block Chloé as Nino took the backpack to the nurse’s office.

“Père!” Chloé whirled on her father in fury to do something. André panicked and pointed at the closest person he knew he could do harm to which happened to be Alya’s mother.

“You’re fired!”

“You’re being ridiculous!” Marlena snapped irritably. She grabbed Alya’s belongings and followed after her daughter while the class rounded on Chloé.

“Everyone settle down!” Mlle. Bustier called out but they were too loud to hear her. Ivan was still blocking Marinette's belongings with Nino and Kim while Alix and Chloé started shouting at one another.

“Quiet!” Mlle. Bustier now yelled and the class turned their attention to their teacher who had never raised her voice before. “Get to your seats, all of you! I can’t believe your behavior right now! It looks like we’re going to have to conduct a full search for everyone’s bags because of this behavior. Juleka go get Sabrina and Rose go to the nurses office and get Adrien, and Alya. Marinette will have to wait until later when she recovers.”

The girls left to go get the others while the class sat in silence. Gabriel could hardly believe his luck. He was about to get a look inside everyone’s bags which would give him a chance to spot either the Miraculous or a kwami. Anyone who tried to hide their things either had the bracelet or was hiding a Miraculous. 

Juleka came back with a crying Sabrina who sat with Ivan instead of Chloé, Ivan giving her a consoling pat on her back as she sniffled. Meanwhile Rose came back with an angry Alya and her mother but no Adrien. Gabriel frowned.

“Where’s my son?” he asked.

“He wasn’t in the nurse’s office. In fact the nurse said he never even came in,” Marlena said. Gabriel hesitated. Should he go search for his son or wait until everyone’s bags are checked? He didn’t want to miss an opportunity as rare as this.

Thankfully Adrien entered the room during Gabriel’s pondering, holding one of his fencing towels to his head.

“Where were you?” Gabriel asked his son, trying not to let his annoyance escape in front of everyone. “You weren’t in the nurse’s office at all.”

“I decided to go to the bathroom and cool it down myself,” Adrien lifted the towel from his head and Gabriel tried not to grumble at the red mark that was left there. If it bruised or got swollen then they would have to postpone his upcoming shoot which would be another issue on top of the several schedule changes he already had to make in order to be present for this event today and for the upcoming competitions.

“Next time go to the nurse if this happens again. Don’t be indecisive and change your mind about where you go. If something were to happen to you no one would know your location,” Gabriel frowned at his son.

“Yes, Père,” Adrien nodded, shoulders slouched with furthered Gabriel’s frown. He restrained himself as the boy made it to his seat and sat down, all of the students minus the one who had fallen ill present.

A flash from the ground caught Gabriel’s eyes as the sunlight shifted and he blinked, looking down to see a shining object behind the trash can. He couldn’t help but pick it up and examine it, making everyone focus on him since he was the only person moving in the room. They gasped as they realized what he was holding and Gabriel grumbled inwardly at the bracelet in his hand which meant he wouldn’t be able to see into everyone’s bags.

“You stole it!” Chloé rose from her seat without a second thought and André squeaked as the room went still. Chloé seemed to realize to whom she had accused and paled. Gabriel turned slowly to face the teen and she trembled under his icy stare.

“You dare accuse me?” he asked softly.

“I didn’t- I-” she looked to her father but he avoided her eyes, leaving Chloé defenseless for the first time in her life. No Sabrina by her side and her own father ignoring the storm in order to not upset one of his biggest supporters in the upcoming elections.

“I had to reschedule an important meeting in order to be here, and instead of doing my presentation and meeting the parents of my sons which have never gone to public school before, I am unable to do either of those along with not being allowed to inspire young artists and learn about this school due to your antics. I’m then accused of stealing a bracelet which not only I could buy myself easily but doesn’t even suit my personal tastes. I must say, Mlle. Bourgeois, I am rather displeased by your behavior, especially coming from the mayor’s daughter. This is rather…,” Gabriel paused as he walked directly up to Chloé’s table, giving an uninterested look at the bracelet before setting it calmly on the table and staring down at her. “...embarrassing for the Bourgeois family. If anyone were to hear about this, your father and your mother’s reputation would be tarnished. Audrey Bourgeois’ rage is something no one wants to cross. I hear she doesn’t even hold back for family,” Gabriel gave a long glance towards André who shifted uncomfortably.

The class was dead silent as Gabriel turned back to Chloé who wasn’t even looking at him anymore, staring meekly into her lap.

“I suggest you start adjusting your behavior if you expect to make it anywhere in life. Turning to your father for simple matters such as a bracelet which hadn’t even been stolen is rather pitiful, don’t you think?” Gabriel finally moved back and nodded towards Mlle. Bustier, “I’ll be taking my leave. It seems that today was rather unpleasant for me. I hope you can manage your child better the next time I see her, André.”

Gabriel Agreste calmly walked out of the room, the door shutting with a soft  _ click _ .

  
  


“I can’t believe that actually happened, especially the day before the class elections,” Alya said as they watched Sabrina walk into school alone, looking like a lost child on the first day of school. Marinette stared at her curiously.

“What happened?” she asked.

“Oh that’s right you fell ill yesterday,” Alya remembered. “By the way, how are you feeling now?”

“Much better, my mom says it must’ve been a massive migraine or something. It was weird but I feel better now,” she smiled but put a comforting hand on her purse where Nooroo laid sleeping. The poor kwami was still resting from what had happened yesterday. He told her that he had been observing one of the parents when the pain suddenly overcame him without any warning. Because Marinette was already stressed due to the anger and tension in the class, the sudden pain from Nooroo bore down on the teen and especially the small god’s own powers of emotion releasing onto the teen without him meaning too, hurting his wielder temporarily. Nooroo wanted to ask the Guardian questions as to why it happened, but he was too weak to go to the Guardian himself.

As of now though, Marinette wasn’t going to transform to let her kwami rest. It was a relief that Coccinelle hadn’t been active since the Animan incident. He didn’t seem to be targeting anyone specifically at the moment but Marinette knew to stay on guard.

“When you got taken to the nurse’s office, Chloé said you were lying about being sick and went for your bag. Then Sabrina exploded and told off Chloé for firing her dad and then decided to cut ties and no longer be friends with her.”

“Really?” Marinette asked in surprise.

“I was surprised too. I didn’t think Sabrina would speak up then for you. Maybe it was because you and her did that project together when you three had to pair up and Chloé didn’t do anything? Or even the class pictures when you invited her to join us?”

“I guess. I didn’t really think I left an impression on her then,” Marinette shrugged. Nino greeted them as he arrived and they chatted for a bit longer until the twins came by.

Marinette could already see that Adrien was depressed, most likely about Chloé. They were friends after all. Meanwhile Félix seemed more positive today, but when his face shifted to concern has he saw her.

“Are you alright?” he asked as they came over. Adrien stared between the two in confusion.

“I’m fine, it was just a bad migraine. I guess I got really stressed or something from that,” Marinette said.

“You need to relax and not overwork yourself or this might keep happening,” Félix said sternly. Marinette did her best to assure him it wasn’t her overworking herself. Or maybe it was? Was Nooroo getting too stressed out lately with her constant work? Marinette couldn’t help but feel guilty as she thought about it.

“What happened? Are you alright?” Adrien asked.

“Marinette got a massive migraine yesterday and she had to get taken to the nurse’s office.”

“What are you doing here then? You need to rest!” Adrien started to fret and now Marinette sighed with a smile.

“I’m fine, I feel much better todag,” she comforted but no one seemed at all happy as they made their way to class.

The mood only grew worse when they all noticed Sabrina sitting next to Ivan, her normal spot up front empty. They all filed in quietly and got seated, murmuring to one another about what was going to happen.

Chloé made her way into class and everyone minus Adrien glared at her. She pointedly ignored them all as she took her seat in the front, trying to look at Adrien but Nino purposely distracted the blond. Chloé shot the DJ a dark look which was easily dismissed.

Mlle. Bustier walked in and sighed when seeing all of the glares on Chloé and feeling the tension in the room with the uncomfortable silence.

“Before we begin with the election process, I would like a word with the class as a whole. How you all acted yesterday was atrocious, especially you, Chloé. You shouldn’t have been accusing everyone like that in the first place and trying to forcefully look into other people’s things when you should've looked around first," Mlle. Busoter shifted her gaze from the blonde sulking in front to the rest of the class, "Everyone should have acted civil, especially on Parents Day where not only are these adults presenting their jobs, they’re also looking for promising youths to take in. You not only made things worse with your behavior and caused unnecessary stress, you also stopped M. Agreste from doing his presentation and ruined his expectations of this class. As many of you know this is the Agreste family’s first time in public education, and your behavior yesterday could’ve made him take out Adrien and Félix. Thankfully he was kind enough to look past it, but I never want to see this behavior again. I’m considering making lessons in order to teach all of you how to properly talk and discuss issues with one another seeing how everyone let their emotions get the best of them yesterday,” she finished and gave a critical eye to the class who shuffled uncomfortably in their seats. Marinette could feel the guilt radiating off of everyone, including herself.

Mlle. Bustier sighed, “I want you all to be successful and enter the world with professionalism and poise, but I also want you to express yourselves and let your amazing personalities shine through. There are times where we must remain calm and discuss situations and times to be expressive. This was a situation where we were supposed to remain calm. I hope we can do better next time. Is there anything anyone would like to add before we begin the campaign?”

“I don’t want to be Chloé’s vice president anymore,” Sabrina mumbled. Chloé whirled around to face the girl.

“What?” she screeched but Sabrina avoided looking at Chloé as she stared at Mlle. Bustier nervously.

Mlle. Bustier nodded, “If that’s Sabrina’s choice than so be it. Now Chloé, you need to find another vice president if you still want to continue to run.”

“This is ridiculous! Utterly ridiculous!” Chloé snarled and glared at the class as if it was their fault. The others glared as she turned to Adrien next to her.

“Would you want to be my vice president?” she asked him with a sickeningly sweet voice.

“I don’t know Chloé, I’m pretty busy with all of my activities,” Adrien said nervously.

“But you can drop some can you?” Chloé urged.

“Père assigned my activities and I think it would be best not to interfere with those. Not only that this is too sudden of a decision,” he said and Chloé’s face went sour.

“If you want, you can still do your speech and find another vice president later,” Mlle. Bustier suggested but Chloé growled.

“I’m going home. This is ridiculous,” she grabbed her things and walked out of the classroom, head held high.

The class watched her go and Mlle. Bustier sighed, turning to Marinette, “I guess you’re the class president now.”

Everyone cheered and Alya heartily patted her back. Marinette gaped, realizing she had won without even having to do anything.

“If you want to say your speech, you still can,” Mlle. Bustier said and Marinette nodded dumbly, making her way up front and standing there, feeling nervous.

She felt a little tap on her leg from her purse and felt Nooroo’s pride radiating from the bag. Marinette relaxed, feeling the little kwami next to her and smiled before launching into her speech.


	13. Darkblade

"Chloé dropped out of the hat competition," Alya said as Marinette finished setting up her hat. She looked around and sure enough the blonde wasn't present.

"She seemed confident on it, I wonder what happened," Marinette said.

"I heard Sabrina had the designs and wasn't giving them to Chloe so she didn't have time to make one herself," they looked to their side to see Aurore standing besides her hat with Mirelle.  Marinette was pleasantly surprised to see the two girls working together. It seemed like after the confrontation with Chloé they both wanted to support one another fully and without any negative feelings towards one another.

"Really?" Marinette's asked and Aurrore nodded darkly.

"Sabrina and Chloe were having a huge argument in the locker room after school a few days ago about the hat. It seems like they were going to use your design and rip it off of you," Aurore told Marinette.

"How was she going to pull that off?" Alya asked incredulously.

"I don't know but it would be hard to trick the Fashion King," Mirelle said. "His eye catches the most detailed things which is why it's hard to get into his internship."

"Is this competition supposed to be a step into his internship program?" Marinette asked.

"It's more of a way for him to see who's out there. Anyone that can catch his eye," Mirelle answered. Marinette looked at Alya anxiously who understood what the designer was nervous about.

"I'm sure he won't put you on a failure list even if he doesn't like your design. It's all about moving forward and doing better every time. You got this," Alya encouraged and the four girls turned as the doors opened and the fashion king walked through the door with his assistant and two sons behind him. 

Marinette took a deep breath, trying to calm her nerves. How weird is it that she could stand and talk confidently in front of Gabriel about Adrien and Félix's birthday but now was a nervous wreck when it was just her.

Gabriel started talking to M. Damocles and Adrien looked around. He caught Marinette's eye and gave her a thumbs up with a wink. Marinette's gave a weak wave in return.

"I think I might throw up," Marinette turned to Alya as Gabriel started his inspections of the hats.

"No you're not," Alya hissed. The butterflies in her stomach said otherwise. Marinette wiggled in place to get her nervous energy out, bouncing on her toes and shaking her hands.

She felt a comforting press on her leg from her purse and she gripped her purse tightly, feeling Nooroo's encouragement and remembering his comforting words right before she headed out.

"You're amazing, Marinette! You can do anything as long as you push your passion into it!" he had cheered.

Marinette took some calming breaths, feeling Nooroo's continue to offer encouragement as she moved her hand away from her purse.

Gabriel arrived to their hat and he nodded in surprise, "Mlle. Dupain-Cheng, correct?"

"Yes!" she said in surprise when he remembered her.

"I'm glad to see you're doing better, it was concerning what happened last week at the Parents Day event. I had been hoping to speak to you more that day but unfortunately it wasn't meant to be. At least we have time now."

"Y-yes!" Marinette exclaimed when Alya poked her back to respond after she had frozen, "I'm doing much better! I'm glad we can talk!" Marinette couldn't believe that Gabriel Agreste said he had wanted to talk to  _ her _ that day. He was interested in her work!

"So what do we have here?" he nodded at the box and Marinette lifted it up, revealing the feather-themed hat.

"I've never done a derby hat before so it was hard to come up with designs, but this one really stuck out to me. The color is dark enough so it can go with an assortment of outfits rather than clashing or requiring only one outfit to wear. I also added a gold embroidery and a slight shimmer to it to make it resemble the reflective sheen you see on a bird’s feathers,” Marinette paused as Gabriel picked it up and examined it curiously. He hummed thoughtfully as he turned it over in his hands and then chuckled.

“I saw your name on the register and figured you might do butterflies since that seems to be your main source of inspiration,” he said to Marinette, “But this is splendid. The shimmer really makes the top look like actual feathers and the gold embroidery adds to that shine. The actual feather is styled nicely and remains firm in the hat. I also can’t help but notice you left your mark on it.”

Everyone stared curiously while Marinette blushed bashfully. Gabrel turned the hat upside down and showed everyone her signature on it making them stare in amazement.

“That’s sneaky!” Alya exclaimed as she poked her friend playfully and Marinette broke into giggles. The twins watched the two in amusement as Gabriel returned the hat to Marinette and continued onward with his search.

"That went well!" Alya whispered excitedly, squeezing Marinette's hands. She nodded as she let out a breath of relief, her shoulders relaxing. The butterflies still lingered though as Gabriel finished his last participant.

The students nervously watched Gabriel come to the center of the room, his sons behind him waiting with a knowing look in their eyes. Adrien caught Marinette's eyes again and smiled brightly at her. Félix nudged him and Adrien looked away from Marinette in embarrassment that he was caught.

"There were many original ideas here that I liked, but Mlle. Dupain-Cheng had the most eye-catching and desirable hat of the group. She not only made a hat that fit the style she was going for with ease, but she also was able to give a good presentation which is one of the most important aspects of a good designer. A designer must be able to not only express their work in action, but also by mouth. Mlle. Dupain-Cheng did it perfectly. Congratulations," he nodded to the young girl who was frozen speechless until Alya grabbed her shoulders and began shaking her as the reporter jumped up and down excitedly while everyone else cheered. 

Marinette finally realized what had happened and a smile bloomed on her face as Alya grinned at her.

"I told you!" she said and Marinette laughed.

"You sure did," Marinette agreed.

Gabriel and his sons came up to the girls and they broke apart, Marinette doing her best to maintain her composure. She failed to keep down the smile though. By the looks of it, so were the twins who both smiled at her with pride.

"Adrien will be modeling the hat for Audrey Bourgeois' fashion show upcoming in later months," Gabriel said and Marinette nodded.

"Thank you for this, M. Agreste," she said sincerely.

"I didn't do anything, it was your own work that got you here. Don't forget that," he said. He extended his hand and Marinette reached out to shake it happily. Once she grabbed his hand though, her head throbbed with a painful headache and she flinched, gripping her head with her free hand.

“Are you alright?” he asked and she nodded as the pain went away.

“Yes, sorry about that. I can’t wait to work with you, M. Agreste," she said and he went to talk to M. Damocles while the twins came up to Marinette.

"I knew yours would win," Adrien said excitedly.

"Really?" Marinette asked.

"Your talent is phenomenal and your effort shines through. I would've been surprised if he had selected someone else over you," Félix approved and Marinette flushed.

"You did amazing," Adrien gently picked up the hat and put it on, flashing a model smile that made the girls giggle. Félix rolled his eyes.

Gabriel made his way to the bathroom while other students came over to Marinette and admired the hat on Adrien who did a little strut, adjusting the hat and started to skip around to the surprise of everyone. They all laughed and Adrien winked at Marinette who was overcome with giggles at his antics.

"Feeling good, Agreste?" Alya smirked.

"What can I say, this hat makes me feel as light as a feather," Adrien smiled and everyone groaned. Marinette was the only one that giggled more at that, thinking fondly of Chat Noir's puns.

Suddenly screams erupted from the back of the group and the students all turned to the noise to see everyone pointing to the second floor in horror.  They turned to see Coccinelle standing on the rail, pulling out his yo-yo ominously.

"Run!" Alya shouted and everyone took off to hide, Adrien holding the hat in his hand so it wouldn't fly off. He led the way to the library and urged people inside, Félix following from the back of the group.

Adrien glanced back to see Marinette trying to drag Alya away who wasn't moving from her spot by the stairs.

"Come on!" Adrien shouted. He watched Marinette continue to motion to the reporter to run but Alya refused, camera out to record.

Adrien tossed Félix the hat and ran out of the library, gripping Alya and the two pulling her into safety of the library.

"Anyone else?" Marinette and Adrien glanced around but saw no one else so they hurried to the library entrance.  Just as they were about to reach the library doors though, Coccinelle landed in front of them menacingly. Félix didn’t wait a second longer and shut the doors, ordering others who were also inside to block it.

"Why are you after the Miraculous?" Alya shouted through the door.

"Not the time!" they heard Félix yell before the two ran out of the courtyard in a panic, their feet pounding as they entered a hallway, and quickly turning the corner at the next chance.

Marinette spotted a janitor closet right after they turned another corner into a different hallway and did her little trick by kicking the door and messing with the handle. It popped open and they rushed inside, closing it as quietly and quickly as possible. Adrien still couldn't believe how she knew all of these tricks.

Coccinelle turned the corner and went silent, the children now missing. The small light filtering through the crack of the door lit the closet enough for Adrien to see Marinette’s wide eyes as she covered her mouth with her hands, trying her best not to pant through her mouth after their sprint. Her shoulders rose up and down quickly like his and she stared at him in worry as he quickly caught his own breath. She heard him sniffling and wondered if he was crying, reaching out to grab him in comfort.

Coccinelle’s footsteps approached their hiding spot and Adrien silently pulled Marinette behind him. She gripped his arm in worry and he gave her a reassuring squeeze as Coccinelle walked down the hall towards them.

"Did the hat have a real feather?" Adrien breathed.

"Yes, is that bad?"

"I'm allergic to feathers," Adrien breathed and Marinette paled as he tried not to sneeze, struggling to breath through his mouth.

They listened as Coccinelle checked the classroom door next to them and they heard him looking around before closing the door with a gentle click. Next he tested their door handle, Adrien silently covering his mouth and nose with his shirt while gripping a broom and ready to use it to defend Marinette if needed. He wasn’t going to let Coccinelle hurt her. Her nervous squeeze on his arm only confirmed that need to protect her. 

After a few jiggles, Coccinelle left and moved onto the next door, going inside the classroom and doing another check in there. Marinette relaxed against him and Adrien let go of the broom to pull her into a secure hug, silently assuring her and himself that they were safe. He wondered if she could hear his heart pounding in his chest that was starting to slow but still kept up, knowing that he had to get out of there in order to transform.

“He’s going to check the next classroom most likely. When he does we’ll slip out and go back the way we came, okay?” Adrien sniffed.

Marinette squeezed his in response before stepping back as they got ready. Adrien’s heart sped up in his chest as he grabbed the door handle and twisted it gently so it was unlocked, but didn’t dare open the door yet.

They listened as Coccinelle came out and moved down the hall. He tried another door and Adrien peeked out to see the villain open the door and enter another room. Adrien pushed the door open silently, Marinette right behind him as he got out of the room and closed it as quietly as he could. They started running, covering their mouths to not pant as they ran down the hall from the way they came.

They turned the corner and the two sprinted away, relief seeping into their bodies as they made their way back to the library. Adrien finally let out a sneeze he couldn't keep back, his nose red and eyes starting to water. He really wished Marinette didn't have to see him I'm such a state.

"We should go to the nurse's office and find something to help your allergy," Marinette said as they jogged to the library.

"You go to the library. I'll go to the nurse's and hide there," Adrien used that as an excuse to escape so he could transform.

“But we should stick together,” Marinette slowed down and Adrien followed suit. They looked down the hall where the nurse's office was. It was still risky to go there and try to get to the library in case Coccinelle heard them.

"Please, it'll make me happier knowing you're safe with my brother and everyone else," Adrien sniffed as he put a hand on her shoulder and squeezed it.

Marinette was about to say something until stopping short, gripping her purse and then nodding, “I’ll go. But Adrien,” Marinette stared at him pleadingly which made his heart jump in his chest in a different way than the current adrenaline coursing through him, “Please be safe.”

“I will. You stay safe too,” he said and Marinette nodded. The two separated and Adrien entered the nearby classroom once seeing her turn the corner. He did a scan to make sure it was empty of any people hiding before opening his overshirt, Plagg flying out.

“You both talk as if you’re in some zombie apocalypse movie and you’re both going to die. Should I start playing some sad music in the background as you run to your death?” Plagg drawled.

“We need to get Marinette to safety, I don’t want anything to happen to her,” Adrien sniffled.

“How romantic. I normally love cheese but that was cheesy even- I wasn’t done yet!” Plagg’s voice vanished as Adrien called on his transformation.

Chat Noir ran out of the classroom and headed to the library, listening intently for any noise other than himself. There was a commotion from ahead and Chat Noir peeked into the courtyard where M. D’Argencourt, his fencing instructor, was brandishing his saber valiantly although rather idiotically at Coccinelle as if asking for the villain to come harm him.

“You shall not harm my students!” he shouted. Coccinelle looked annoyed as the instructor blocked the way into the library where the students had taken cover.

“Looks like someone beat us here!” Chat Noir grinned and Coccinelle barely had time to react as the extending baton whacked him in the ribs.

“Care for some assistance?” Húdié smiled as she landed next to D’Argencourt. As she started to make her contract, Chat Noir blocked Coccinelle’s yo-yo from hitting them, deflecting it perfectly.

The villain glared and the two began to fight, Coccinelle calling up his Lucky Charm early which surprised Chat Noir. The hero remained on guard as the two fought, keeping his distance and watching out for the spotted bowl Coccinelle held.

“Duck, Chat Noir!” Húdié called out and the hero dropped as a javelin nearly hit Coccinelle.

Chat Noir looked back to see knights pouring out of the library, raising their shields and weapons while one particular knight in red took up an offensive pose.

“What is this about?” Chat asked as Húdié landed next to him.

“His powers allow him to make knights, so he asked the students if they wanted to defend their school. I’m surprised this many of them did,”

“Was a girl by the name of Marinette in there?"

"Um- yes she was," she seemed taken aback by his sudden question.

"Is she okay?" Chat asked in concern.

"Uh-" the bottom of her cheeks that were visible went pink, "Yeah. She was turned into a fight so she's probably knighting now. I mean- turned into a knight and is fighting."

"That's a relief," Chat Noir relax, his smile bright as he looked at his partner. "Ready to  _ foil _ his plans?"

"Always," Hudie's cheeks went rosier as she grinned and Chat smiled wider before rushing into the fight, his partner at his back like always.

André Bourgeois anxiously paced back and forth in his office, replaying the video of the newest Champion that rose up the day before. When Coccinelle appeared and started to attack the school out of the blue, Armand D’Argencourt had been there to meet him, fighting the villain until the heroes arrived. Húdié, encouraged by his compassion, made him into her latest Champion called Darkblade, a powerful knight and expert sword fighter who helped save the school and caused Coccinelle to flee.

The support for his rival competing in the campaign for mayor increased frighteningly quickly. André watched as many of his supporters shifted towards the fencing instructor who was willing to risk his own life in order to save the students, making him the “Champion of the Future.”

Not only that, word of Roger Raincomprix being fired caused many people to be surprisingly upset. While sometimes ridiculous with his tickets, Roger had been a faithful officer and was also kind to teens which many people didn’t often see in other officers. He had a teenager of his own so he did his best to not judge all teenagers and was willing to listen to them. Roger showed the people of Paris that he was a safe person to go to in times of trouble.  So when the word spread of him getting fired for doing his job properly, outrage towards André increased which made him lose many supporters. Thankfully the incident with the bracelet was only a rumor to the eyes of many so André still had enough supporters, but now he was tied with Armand.

To end it on a sour note, Chloé lost her best friend Sabrina due to her father being fired and thus didn’t have anyone to be her vice president. Chloé had returned home early screaming and furious, going to her room and forcing her butler to do everything for her from getting chocolates to having a spa day to relax. Afterwards she had grumbled angrily throughout dinner and her ranting gave no peace to André’s already anxious mind. He sent Chloé to her room when he got fed up with her wailing but it only made it worse, Chloé screaming and yelling how everyone was cruel.

André ended up going to his office to escape the hotel and spent the night there instead of home, tired of the noise. Now he was up and trying to find the best way to get his supporters back.

“M. Bourgeois?” his secretary came in.

“Yes?”

“Penny Rolling is on the line, she wants to talk about the plans with Jagged Stone staying in Le Grand Paris,” she said and that sparked an idea in the mayor.

“Put her on the line. I also want you to host the upcoming culinary competition at Le Grand as well as invite Prince Ali here.”

“Are you sure?” the secretary asked. "Those events are all very close to one another."r

“Yes, and make students work day here for the students of Chloé’s class so they can learn all about it,” he said and the secretary nodded and headed out. André let out a sigh of pride. He could easily get his support by hosting things and showing how organized he was. While D’Argencourt could support the future but he wasn’t as experienced as André was with running the city. This was going to be an easy recovery.

“Thank you for hosting student work day. We're all so happy to be here,” Mlle. Bustier smiled. The class showed no signs of warmth though as André stood before all of them. With a look from Mlle. Bustier, they all gave a monotonous thanks to the mayor. Chloé meanwhile stood proudly beside him holding a piece of paper.

“We enjoy teaching students new experiences. We have a list of jobs for every student on this paper here,” André took the paper from Chloé and started reading off names. “Alix, Sabrina, and Ivan room service; Kim as a bellhop; Nino, Max, Juleka, and Rose in the kitchens; Mylène and Félix as servers; Adrien and Chloé at the front desk; and Alya as a janitor.”

Alya made an offended noise while everyone else went to their assigned stations.

“Can you believe her?” Alya said angrily.

“If it’s Chloé I can,” Marinette sighed. Chloé was most likely lashing out at the two who stole her spot in the elections.

“Your name didn’t get called,” Alya pointed out angrily and Marinette sighed.

“I wonder why. I’ll go talk to them,” she said when they noticed someone come in through the entrance, Kim pushing the heavy cart.

“No way…” Alya and Marinette trailed off as none other than the famous rock star Jagged Stone walked in with his assistant and a crocodile. His leather suit sparkled like scales and the epaulette's on his shoulders swaying as he walked in with an uninterested look around. Marinette felt Alya patting her arm in excitement but was too stunned to respond back.

"Girls get to your assignments," Mlle. Bustier said with a smile and Alya groaned, heading out reluctantly to go clean garbage.

“Welcome, M. Jagged Stone! We have everything prepared for you in our finest suite,” André said confidently as Marinette went over to Mlle. Bustier and told her what had happened as Penny kicked out an annoying paparazzi trying to hide when Jagged Stone's crocodile found him.

“Just follow us,” Mlle. Bustier said and André led the rock star to the hotel room where he would be living, the teacher and student following from behind.

As they got into the elevator, Mlle. Bustier quietly explained the situation and André nodded.  They got to the room and Jagged went inside the bathroom to make up a bath for his crocodile. Penny turned to André and Mlle. Bustier, Marinette behind the two adults.

“Jagged Stone is looking for a pair of Eiffel Tower glasses that are bright and colorful. Make sure they fit his style,” Penny said. André turned to Marinette behind him.

“This girl is your go-fer! She’ll be getting everything Jagged Stone needs,” he said and quickly left since he didn't want to be ordered around by the celebrity any further, Mlle. Bustier following after him to check on the students.

“Eiffel Tower glasses to suit his type?” Marinette asked and Penny nodded.

“Something eye-catching,” she confirmed. Marinette walked out of the room, pondering what to do. She got into the elevator and Nooroo flew out.

“How will you find something eye-catching for him?” he asked and Marinette hummed. Jagged Stone loved being flashy, so no simple pair of shades would do. This would have to take more thought on how to find something that would suit him. But what exactly? She walked out into the lobby when an idea hit her, making her grin confidently and hurry out the door as her creative mind got to work.

Adrien watched her leave and sighed after her retreating figure in longing. He had been trying to talk with her more but her new duties made her constantly busy in school. He really wanted to get to know Marinette outside of school and their friend group. Maybe he could stop by the bakery sometime? Adrien was surprised he hadn’t thought of that before but then realized how negatively his father would react once finding out that he was breaking his diet.

“So Adrien,” Chloé drawled and gripped his arm. As much as she was his friend, Chloé's grip never settled right with him. Adrien always felt as if she was claiming him like he was a toy or prize of sorts, her sharp nails digging into his arm uncomfortably.

“Yes?”

“How do you feel seeing Jagged Stone here?”

“It’s pretty great!” Adrien replied, relieved this conversation was going in a good direction. “He’s one of my favorite musicians out there. I love his work and I wish I could go see him but he’s probably busy or resting before the show.”

“I can take you to see him if you want,” she drawled and pressed herself onto his arm, further increasing his discomfort.

“No thanks. Like I said he’s probably busy," Adrien forced a smile.

“But he wouldn’t be busy for me. I’m the mayor’s daughter.”

“He needs his rest, Chloé,” Adrien said firmly. Chloé looked at Adrien, offended by his tone.

“But I’m the mayor’s daughter. He must-”

“Chloé,” Adrien shook his head with a sigh having not wanted to go down this route. “I heard what happened from everyone else. You went too far trying to look into Marinette’s bag without her permission and not only that, tried to take it when Marinette was obviously unwell. I can’t easily forgive you for doing that to one of my friends. Marinette was willing to forgive me for the gum incident that  _ you _ started and she’s been nothing but kind to me since then. Meanwhile all I’ve seen from you in school is you being rude and downright bullying other students. Not only that, you got your own friend's father fired just because you didn't get what you wanted even though it was against the law for him to search anyone without a warrant. I’m sorry but… I can’t be friends with you if you are mean to the ones I care about. Being in school meeting new people and making friends, and just seeing how other people interact with one another has made me realize that you don’t treat anyone with respect, not even me. And I don’t mind how our relationship is because I’ve grown used to it, but the way you act towards others is wrong. If you really want to be friends you’ve got to change the way you act. Start by just being nice to people."

Adrien pulled his arm out of Chloé’s tight grip and walked away from her, intent on getting another job that he would feel more comfortable with. He ignored Chloé’s sputtering as he slipped into the elevator and purposely didn’t look at her as he pressed the button and rode up to find Mlle. Bustier, guilt gnawing at him and making him feel anxious. Was this the right thing to do? He wasn't sure, but he needed to show Chloé that he was serious. She couldn't mess with his friends like that, especially Marinette.

It took a while but when Adrien finally found his teacher he told her that he didn’t feel comfortable working with Chloé anymore. Mlle. Bustier sighed, obviously uncertain what to do in this situation. No one would want to be paired with Chloé at this point. Marinette would be the best option because she was the most tolerable and least likely to stand up against Chloé, but she had also gone through the most bullying, especially as of late. She also didn't miss the fact that Alya had trash duties which Mlle. Bustier knew was directed by Chloé so she instead the told the girl to be a server, making Alya happier. Meanwhile Marinette didn't get a position at all. She was really going to need to have a discussion with Chloé about respect.

They walked around only to find there was no other position for Adrien to do at the moment. Mlle. Bustier looked to where Ivan, Alix, and Sabrina were cleaning, thinking to herself.

“How about you also be Jagged Stone’s go-fer with Marinette? Jagged Stone seems like he had a lot of needs,” Mlle. Bustier suggested and Adrien couldn't believe his luck. He wanted to hang out with Marinette more and today he was getting that chance.

Mlle. Bustier told him the room number before heading out to check on the other students as Adrien went to the elevator, brimming with joy and awe at the sheer luck of this turn of events. Not only that, he would work with Jagged Stone too!

As the elevator door opened for Adrien to enter, he blinked in surprise at Marinette holding a small bag in her hand with a triumphant smile.

“What do you have there?” Adrien asked as he came inside. Marinette blinked at him in surprise as she was distracted from her inner thoughts.

“Jagged Stone wanted some glasses. What are you doing here?”

“I- uh- told Chloé I didn’t want to work with her anymore," Adrien said nervously and Marinette blinked, stunned.

"What brought up this?"

"Well,  I know I haven’t really said anything before this or tried to stop her awful behavior, but how she tried to go through your things a couple of weeks ago was wrong. I was always scared of Chloé leaving me when we were little because I had no friends but now that I’ve met you guys I’ve learned that friendships and all relationships must have respect and Chloé never gave anyone that. I purposely ignored Chloé’s behavior because I didn’t want to confront it and lose a friend and I also didn’t want to accept the fact that the only person who had been my friend most of my life was… a bully.”

“Adrien,” Marinette said and he glanced up, expecting a stern look but only saw warm eyes. “It’s not your duty to fix Chloé’s behavior. That’s up to her to change herself. While I am a little upset it took you some time to accept Chloé’s nature, I’m glad you are now facing the situation. This is your first time making friends and seeing interactions between peers so I understand that you didn’t realize the truth and couldn't believe it. What’s most important is that you are finding what makes you happy and feel safe.”

“You’re amazing, you know that?” Adrien smiled, feeling relieved as they headed out of the elevators, Marinette leading the way.

“Me? No no no-” Marinette said flustered but Adrien shook his head.

“You always know what to say and you always look out for everyone. I’m really thankful that I met you. You mean so much to me and I'm happy just knowing-"

Jagged Stone’s doors opened and Penny popped her head out, interrupting the teens.

“I thought I heard voices. You have the glasses…?”

“M-m- Marinette!” she answered and hurried forward, nearly running into the open door. Adrien chuckled fondly and came up behind her, gaping as Jagged Stone approached and examined the glasses Marinette had gotten for him. The eye pieces were now in the shapes of Eiffel Towers with the bright colors of the French flag 

“These are rocking!” Jagged exclaimed excitedly and put them on. His grin was wide as he looked around the room before turning to Marinette. “Where did you find these?”

“Oh, I, um, made them myself,” she admitted and the other three stared in surprise.

“You made these? Wow, you totally get my style! What’s your name, kid?” Jagged Stone asked and Marinette blinked in surprise, looking back at Adrien who urged her with a smile.

“Marinette Dupain-Cheng.”

“Well, Marinette. I’d like you to make a little something for Fang. Could you do a cool collar with a Paris design? Maybe like a Chat Noir color because that guy is a solid rocker!”

Adrien puffed in slight pride as Marinette agreed to make it. Penny turned to Adrien politely, happy that Jagged was pleased with the gift.

“I’m your other go-fer,” Adrien said in reply to her questioning look.

“Great! You can help me wash Fang!” Jagged said and urged Adrien in. The rock star also encouraged Marinette to come in so she could see what she was working with.

“Fang?” Adrien asked.

“My crocodile!” Jagged presented the large crocodile who grumbled happily as his owner came over and started scratching his belly with a large bath brush. Adrien and Marinette shared a nervous look. It was going to be a hectic day for them.


	14. Rock and Rolling in the Competition

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for not being that active since winter started, I've been really busy with school so I had to put this work on pause as I focused on my studies. My updates will probably still be slower since my work load is increasing but I want to reassure you that I haven't given up on this and I'm not putting it on hiatus.

André Bourgeois anxiously paced back and forth in his office, replaying the video of the newest Champion that rose up the day before. When Coccinelle appeared and started to attack the school out of the blue, Armand D’Argencourt had been there to meet him, fighting the villain until the heroes arrived. Húdié, encouraged by his compassion, made him into her latest Champion called Darkblade, a powerful knight and expert sword fighter who helped save the school and caused Coccinelle to flee.

The support for his rival competing in the campaign for mayor increased frighteningly quickly. André watched as many of his supporters shifted towards the fencing instructor who was willing to risk his own life in order to save the students, making him the “Champion of the Future.”

Not only that, word of Roger Raincomprix being fired caused many people to be surprisingly upset. While sometimes ridiculous with his tickets, Roger had been a faithful officer and was also kind to teens which many people didn’t often see in other officers. He had a teenager of his own so he did his best to not judge all teenagers and was willing to listen to them. Roger showed the people of Paris that he was a safe person to go to in times of trouble. So when the word spread of him getting fired for doing his job properly, outrage towards André increased which made him lose many supporters. Thankfully the incident with the bracelet was only a rumor to the eyes of many so André still had enough supporters, but now he was tied with Armand.

To end it on a sour note, Chloé lost her best friend Sabrina due to her father being fired and thus didn’t have anyone to be her vice president. Chloé had returned home early screaming and furious, going to her room and forcing her butler to do everything for her from getting chocolates to having a spa day to relax. Afterwards she had grumbled angrily throughout dinner and her ranting gave no peace to André’s already anxious mind. He sent Chloé to her room when he got fed up with her wailing but it only made it worse, Chloé screaming and yelling how everyone was cruel.

André ended up going to his office to escape the hotel and spent the night there instead of home, tired of the noise. Now he was up and trying to find the best way to get his supporters back.

“M. Bourgeois?” his secretary came in.

“Yes?”

“Penny Rolling is on the line, she wants to talk about the plans with Jagged Stone staying in Le Grand Paris,” she said and that sparked an idea in the mayor.

“Put her on the line. I also want you to host the upcoming culinary competition at Le Grand as well as invite Prince Ali here.”

“Are you sure?” the secretary asked. "Those events are all very close to one another."r

“Yes, and make students work day here for the students of Chloé’s class so they can learn all about it,” he said and the secretary nodded and headed out. André let out a sigh of pride. He could easily get his support by hosting things and showing how organized he was. While D’Argencourt could support the future but he wasn’t as experienced as André was with running the city. This was going to be an easy recovery, all he had to do was make the people like him again, and what better way to do that then to capture the hearts of the children?

  
  


“Thank you for hosting student work day. We're all so happy to be here,” Mlle. Bustier smiled. The class showed no signs of warmth though as André stood before all of them. With a look from Mlle. Bustier, they all gave a monotonous thanks to the mayor. Chloé meanwhile stood proudly beside him holding a piece of paper.

“We enjoy teaching students new experiences. We have a list of jobs for every student on this paper here,” André took the paper from Chloé and started reading off names. “Alix, Sabrina, and Ivan room service; Kim as a bellhop; Nino, Max, Juleka, and Rose in the kitchens; Mylène and Félix as servers; Adrien and Chloé at the front desk; and Alya as a janitor.”

Alya made an offended noise while everyone else went to their assigned stations.

“Can you believe her?” Alya said angrily.

“If it’s Chloé I can,” Marinette sighed. Chloé was most likely lashing out at the two who stole her spot in the elections.

“Your name didn’t get called,” Alya pointed out angrily and Marinette sighed.

“I wonder why. I’ll go talk to them,” she said when they noticed someone come in through the entrance, Kim pushing the heavy cart.

“No way…” Alya and Marinette trailed off as none other than the famous rock star Jagged Stone walked in with his assistant and a crocodile. His leather suit sparkled like scales and the epaulette's on his shoulders swaying as he walked in with an uninterested look around. Marinette felt Alya patting her arm in excitement but was too stunned to respond back.

"Girls get to your assignments," Mlle. Bustier said with a smile and Alya groaned, heading out reluctantly to go clean garbage.

“Welcome, M. Jagged Stone! We have everything prepared for you in our finest suite,” André said confidently as Marinette went over to Mlle. Bustier and told her what had happened as Penny kicked out an annoying paparazzi trying to hide when Jagged Stone's crocodile found him.

“Just follow us,” Mlle. Bustier said and André led the rock star to the hotel room where he would be living, the teacher and student following from behind.

As they got into the elevator, Mlle. Bustier quietly explained the situation and André nodded. They got to the room and Jagged went inside the bathroom to make up a bath for his crocodile. Penny turned to André and Mlle. Bustier, Marinette behind the two adults.

“Jagged Stone is looking for a pair of Eiffel Tower glasses that are bright and colorful. Make sure they fit his style,” Penny said. André turned to Marinette behind him.

“This girl is your go-fer! She’ll be getting everything Jagged Stone needs,” he said and quickly left since he didn't want to be ordered around by the celebrity any further, Mlle. Bustier following after him to check on the students.

“Eiffel Tower glasses to suit his type?” Marinette asked and Penny nodded.

“Something eye-catching,” she confirmed. Marinette walked out of the room, pondering what to do. She got into the elevator and Nooroo flew out.

“How will you find something eye-catching for him?” he asked and Marinette hummed. Jagged Stone loved being flashy, so no simple pair of shades would do. This would have to take more thought on how to find something that would suit him. But what exactly? She walked out into the lobby when an idea hit her, making her grin confidently and hurry out the door as her creative mind got to work.

Adrien watched her leave and sighed after her retreating figure in longing. He had been trying to talk with her more but her new duties made her constantly busy in school. He really wanted to get to know Marinette outside of school and their friend group. Maybe he could stop by the bakery sometime? Adrien was surprised he hadn’t thought of that before but then realized how negatively his father would react once finding out that he was breaking his diet.

“So Adrien,” Chloé drawled and gripped his arm. As much as she was his friend, Chloé's grip never settled right with him. Adrien always felt as if she was claiming him like he was a toy or prize of sorts, her sharp nails digging into his arm uncomfortably.

“Yes?”

“How do you feel seeing Jagged Stone here?”

“It’s pretty great!” Adrien replied, relieved this conversation was going in a good direction. “He’s one of my favorite musicians out there. I love his work and I wish I could go see him but he’s probably busy or resting before the show.”

“I can take you to see him if you want,” she drawled and pressed herself onto his arm, further increasing his discomfort.

“No thanks. Like I said he’s probably busy," Adrien forced a smile.

“But he wouldn’t be busy for me. I’m the mayor’s daughter.”

“He needs his rest, Chloé,” Adrien said firmly. Chloé looked at Adrien, offended by his tone.

“But I’m the mayor’s daughter. He must-”

“Chloé,” Adrien shook his head with a sigh having not wanted to go down this route. “I heard what happened from everyone else. You went too far trying to look into Marinette’s bag without her permission and not only that, tried to take it when Marinette was obviously unwell. I can’t easily forgive you for doing that to one of my friends. Marinette was willing to forgive me for the gum incident that you started and she’s been nothing but kind to me since then. Meanwhile all I’ve seen from you in school is you being rude and downright bullying other students. Not only that, you got your own friend's father fired just because you didn't get what you wanted even though it was against the law for him to search anyone without a warrant. I’m sorry but… I can’t be friends with you if you are mean to the ones I care about. Being in school meeting new people and making friends, and just seeing how other people interact with one another has made me realize that you don’t treat anyone with respect, not even me. And I don’t mind how our relationship is because I’ve grown used to it, but the way you act towards others is wrong. If you really want to be friends you’ve got to change the way you act. Start by just being nice to people."

Adrien pulled his arm out of Chloé’s tight grip and walked away from her, intent on getting another job that he would feel more comfortable with. He ignored Chloé’s sputtering as he slipped into the elevator and purposely didn’t look at her as he pressed the button and rode up to find Mlle. Bustier, guilt gnawing at him and making him feel anxious. Was this the right thing to do? He wasn't sure, but he needed to show Chloé that he was serious. She couldn't mess with his friends like that, especially Marinette.

It took a while but when Adrien finally found his teacher he told her that he didn’t feel comfortable working with Chloé anymore. Mlle. Bustier sighed, obviously uncertain what to do in this situation. No one would want to be paired with Chloé at this point. Marinette would be the best option because she was the most tolerable and least likely to stand up against Chloé, but she had also gone through the most bullying, especially as of late. She also didn't miss the fact that Alya had trash duties which Mlle. Bustier knew was directed by Chloé so she instead the told the girl to be a server, making Alya happier. Meanwhile Marinette didn't get a position at all. She was really going to need to have a discussion with Chloé about respect.

They walked around only to find there was no other position for Adrien to do at the moment. Mlle. Bustier looked to where Ivan, Alix, and Sabrina were cleaning, thinking to herself.

“How about you also be Jagged Stone’s go-fer with Marinette? Jagged Stone seems like he had a lot of needs,” Mlle. Bustier suggested and Adrien couldn't believe his luck. He wanted to hang out with Marinette more and today he was getting that chance.

Mlle. Bustier told him the room number before heading out to check on the other students as Adrien went to the elevator, brimming with joy and awe at the sheer luck of this turn of events. Not only that, he would work with Jagged Stone too!

As the elevator door opened for Adrien to enter, he blinked in surprise at Marinette holding a small bag in her hand with a triumphant smile.

“What do you have there?” Adrien asked as he came inside. Marinette blinked at him in surprise as she was distracted from her inner thoughts.

“Jagged Stone wanted some glasses. What are you doing here?”

“I- uh- told Chloé I didn’t want to work with her anymore," Adrien said nervously and Marinette blinked, stunned.

"What brought up this?"

"Well, I know I haven’t really said anything before this or tried to stop her awful behavior, but how she tried to go through your things a couple of weeks ago was wrong. I was always scared of Chloé leaving me when we were little because I had no friends but now that I’ve met you guys I’ve learned that friendships and all relationships must have respect and Chloé never gave anyone that. I purposely ignored Chloé’s behavior because I didn’t want to confront it and lose a friend and I also didn’t want to accept the fact that the only person who had been my friend most of my life was… a bully.”

“Adrien,” Marinette said and he glanced up, expecting a stern look but only saw warm eyes. “It’s not your duty to fix Chloé’s behavior. That’s up to her to change herself. While I am a little upset it took you some time to accept Chloé’s nature, I’m glad you are now facing the situation. This is your first time making friends and seeing interactions between peers so I understand that you didn’t realize the truth and couldn't believe it. What’s most important is that you are finding what makes you happy and feel safe.”

“You’re amazing, you know that?” Adrien smiled, feeling relieved as they headed out of the elevators, Marinette leading the way.

“Me? No no no-” Marinette said flustered but Adrien shook his head.

“You always know what to say and you always look out for everyone. I’m really thankful that I met you. You mean so much to me and I'm happy just knowing-"

Jagged Stone’s doors opened and Penny popped her head out, interrupting the teens.

“I thought I heard voices. You have the glasses…?”

“M-m- Marinette!” she answered and hurried forward, nearly running into the open door. Adrien chuckled fondly and came up behind her, gaping as Jagged Stone approached and examined the glasses Marinette had gotten for him. The eye pieces were now in the shapes of Eiffel Towers with the bright colors of the French flag 

“These are rocking!” Jagged exclaimed excitedly and put them on. His grin was wide as he looked around the room before turning to Marinette. “Where did you find these?”

“Oh, I, um, made them myself,” she admitted and the other three stared in surprise.

“You made these? Wow, you totally get my style! What’s your name, kid?” Jagged Stone asked and Marinette blinked in surprise, looking back at Adrien who urged her with a smile.

“Marinette Dupain-Cheng.”

“Well, Marinette. I’d like you to make a little something for Fang. Could you do a cool collar with a Paris design? Maybe like a Chat Noir color because that guy is a solid rocker!”

Adrien puffed in slight pride as Marinette agreed to make it. Penny turned to Adrien politely, happy that Jagged was pleased with the gift.

“I’m your other go-fer,” Adrien said in reply to her questioning look.

“Great! You can help me wash Fang!” Jagged said and urged Adrien in. The rock star also encouraged Marinette to come in so she could see what she was working with.

“Fang?” Adrien asked.

“My crocodile!” Jagged presented the large crocodile who grumbled happily as his owner came over and started scratching his belly with a large bath brush. Adrien and Marinette shared a nervous look. It was going to be a hectic day for them.


	15. Electric Justice

The class excitedly chattered as they waited in line with their tickets, the venue starting to pack with more fans. 

"I would like to thank you two once again for befriending Jagged Stone and getting tickets for the whole class to see him live," Nino said for the fifth time to Adrien and Marinette.

"And once again you don't need to thank us," Adrien chuckled. "We were just doing our jobs."

"We had a ton of fun working with him though," Marinette said and the two shared an intimate smile. After Adrien had washed Fang and Marinette returned with his new green and black studded collar, Jagged Stone had the two of them help with random jobs just to keep him entertained. They were his audience while he player his guitar, they grabbed more guitar supplies and crocodile food, and then he taught them how to do tricks with Fang. It was a day full of laughs and running around rather than anything stressful. Adrien had been happy just to hang out more with Marinette without her being stressed about school, just the two of them laughing together and enjoying the time they spent with their favorite musician. Adrien had been delighted to find that Marinette was as big of a Jagged Stone fan as he was.

"Hey, Marinette," the designer turned to see Juleka's brother, Luka, standing there. He was much taller than Marinette but his aura wasn't intimidating at all, instead smiling casually at her.

"Hey Luka!" she beamed.

"I just want to thank you for giving me this ticket," he smiled warmly at her.

"You mentioned you loved Jagged Stone at the birthday party for the twins and we had an extra ticket so it was only right to give it to someone who would enjoy it," Marinette said.

Jagged Stone gave tickets to Adrien and Marinette to give only to the class, but no one had told Chloé about the concert since they knew how she wouldn't be interested in it and instead try to find some way to sabotage their day of fun. Sabrina and Adrien felt guilty initially but the class convinced them otherwise, saying this would be a good opportunity to meet Luka and get to know him. Sabrina eventually gave in, deciding that she didn't want to feel worried about Chloé who never worried about her in the first place and eventually Adrien gave in, deciding to enjoy the time he had with everyone.

"I'm surprised you remembered that. Thank you," Luka complimented. Marinette felt her cheeks grow warm at his sweet tone.

"I hope we can see him after the performance. That way you could talk to him about your music," she said.

"Just being here is enough for me," Luka said and was about to say something else before Juleka tapped his shoulder. He gave Marinette a wave before turning to his sister.

Marinette felt a tap on her own shoulder and looked to see Alix nudging her towards the now open doors. The class and Luka bubbled with excitement as they hurried inside, ready to rock out.

They concert started without an issue, the opener right before doing a great job and presenting Jagged Stone to the deafening screams.

"Hello Paris!" Jagged called out and the screams only increased in volume. Adrien excitedly patted Marinette and gestured to the glasses on the rocker's face, the very ones she made a few days ago. Marinette nodded eagerly with a grin. Jagged Stone had worn them the entire day when Marinette first made them because he was extremely infatuated with them. Marinette had a feeling that he didn't even take them off once since the day he got them.

"Ready to rock and roll?" Jagged shouted and the crowd went crazy, jumping and pumping their hands in the air. The stadium was completely packed with fans and Marinette could feel the excitement rumbling off of everyone in waves, slightly overwhelming her but in a good way. She gripped the rails in front of her just in case it got intense. She put a hand on her purse to see if Nooroo was fine and the kwami reassured her by pressing his joy into her, relaxing the teen.

Jagged Stone's solo ripped into the air as he started and the fans went wild, watching and listening in awe as he shredded on his guitar with ease, his intro hyping up the crowd. The rest of the band joined in and the audience cheered, excited to hear Jagged Stone's new music he had been working on. He had a upcoming album and this concert was the one where he would be releasing a few of the songs for the first time, making it the reason why this concert was gigantic.

He didn't let them down at all, playing many of the favorites from his older albums along with a few of his new songs, the fans completely focused on the guitarist and band as they performed.

During a slow song Marinette closed her eyes and listened to it, letting the feelings of everyone wash over her. They were at peace yet also energized, soothed by the calming song but also excited to hear the next one coming. She hummed along to it as Jagged played, soaking in the experience.

Marinette suddenly frowned as she felt confusion arise from the back portion of the crowd. She blinked open her eyes and looked back to see some of the audience pointing at something in the shadows of the stadium above her head. Marinette looked closely and squinted, suddenly gasping as she recognized the spotted pattern. The villain scanned the room when he suddenly looked down at her. His eyes narrowed as they locked gazes.

"Coccinelle!" Marinette called out and the class looked up and spotted him too. Everyone started to follow their gaze and within seconds pandemonium ensued when they realized the villain was here.

Having been caught, he dropped down and started to terrorize fans, pulling down the pillars and equipment and causing it to fall down to the crowd that barely made it out of the way in time.

“Hurry! Get out of here and stick with a partner!” Marinette called out and motioned for her classmates to get to the door, keeping a count on everyone. Max and Kim ran off, holding hands so the crowd wouldn’t pull them apart. She noticed Alix grab a hold of Kim’s arm and squeezed her way through. Ivan helped Mylène, Rose, and Juleka with his huge body making a small break in the crowd for the girls to escape. Alya grabbed Sabrina and pulled her along with Nino and Nathaniel while Félix looked around wildly.

“Where’s Adrien?” he shouted in distress. Marinette looked around but couldn’t find him, panicking. She started to look for him when a firm hand closed around her arm.

“We have to go, we need to hope that he’s safe but right now we’re still in danger,” Luka said loudly in her ear over the yells of the people.

“Félix!” Marinette stuck out her hand and he glanced around one last time, hoping to spot his brother, before looking defeated. He reached out and grasped her hand and Luka led the way out, Marinette linking her arm in his and holding on tightly to the two boys.

Luka made his way determinedly to the emergency exit when suddenly Coccinelle yanked down a huge light fixture and it groaned, falling down onto them. The three barely moved back in time, panicking as the rest of the exits were blocked off.

Coccinelle glared down at the crowd, looking around for people. He spotted the three of them and Marinette couldn’t help but notice his eyes lock onto them. It was almost as if he was purposely targeting them. But why?

“Come on!” Luka urged them up the stage steps and the two followed after him. Coccinelle pulled himself towards them and Marinette gasped, knocking the boys flat down on the stage as the villain flew over them and blocked their way.

“No one is allowed to-” he was cut off as Jagged Stone came up from behind and rammed his guitar straight into the villain’s head. The three teens gasped as the villain collapsed, groaning in pain.

“No one messes with my fans,” Jagged Stone grumbled and motioned for the kids to follow him.

Marinette looked down with the other two at the fallen villain who wasn't stirring. She could grab the earrings now. Coccinelle could be stopped. This was it.

As she let go of Luka and reached out her hand, Félix pulled her forward and away from the villain who was starting to recover.

“No!” Marinette shouted and tried to go back but Jagged Stone got behind the girl and pushed her away.

“I’ll save the rest of the fans, you three go ahead,” Jagged guided them ahead where Penny was waiting off stage, guiding everyone to safety.

Marinette realized that once she was outside she wouldn’t be able to transform since she would be stuck with Félix and Luka. She waited for a small disturbance in order to escape, hoping it would be soon.

As if by luck, a fan running by without looking knocked down Marinette and Félix’s secure grip slipped as she fell. They tumbled into some curtains and Marinette rolled up quickly and took off, using the other moving bodies to hide as she slipped away.

She ended up in Jagged Stone’s changing room and quickly transformed, Nooroo slipping into the brooch as she clipped it onto the front of her shirt. Húdié exited the room and sped towards the stadium, leaping over the crowd right to where Coccinelle was fighting Chat Noir.

Jagged was on the floor but already getting up, holding his destroyed guitar like an ax. His determination to save his fans still trapped was firm in his mind and Húdié slipped in with a swift butterfly into his guitar.

“Your fans need your help, do you wish to save them and deliver justice to Coccinelle?” she asked.

“Justice shall be served with a side of rock and roll,” he consented. Húdié watched as her favorite musician turned into a Champion, his outfit becoming more rugged like scales and his epaulets developing spikes on them. Meanwhile his pants now had dark purple flames on them to match the scales on his suit and his destroyed guitar was now remodeled to look like a flaming dragon. It was as if he began a rock and roll dragon instead of a human, his mask also designed to look like a dragon mask with glowing green eyes.

“Let’s show him how we rock, Electric Justice!” Húdié cheered. Electric Justice adjusted his guitar and let out a huge beam of music right at the villain, knocking him back.

“Rock and Roll, baby!” Electric Justice hollered as Chat Noir landed next to Húdié.

“You made Jagged Stone a Champion?” Chat raised an eyebrow in humor.

“He’s passionate,” Húdié shrugged.

“I guess we should help him out and fight in  _ harmony _ , don’t you think?” Chat grinned and Húdié giggled.

“Fighting together is our  _ forte _ ,” she winked and Chat Noir’s eyes blew up in surprise.

“That was a good one!” he exclaimed as they ducked under Coccinelle’s yo-yo and rushed to the side as Electric Justice lured the villain to the side.

“I’ve learned from the best,” she complimented and Chat’s tail twitched with pride.

“I guess I need to step up my game or else you’ll  _ crescendo _ above me,” he said and knocked Coccinelle back with his baton. The villain grit his teeth and rushed at Húdié who easily shifted her weight so he flew past her, Húdié landing a blow on the back of his neck with her cane.

“We certainly can’t have that. It would be a shame if your puns started to fall  _ flat _ ,” Húdié agreed.

Chat knocked the yo-yo out of Coccinelle’s grip when the villain stumbled, grabbing it and swinging it in amusement, “I was going to say to  _ brace _ ourselves for the next attack, but it looks like our villain needs a  _ rest _ .”

“I will destroy you,” Coccinelle hissed in fury. Electric Justice landed next to the heroes and stared down at the villain.

“Looks like someone’s down on their  _ luck _ ,” he said and the two heroes snorted. They recovered themselves quickly and Húdié pointed her cane at Coccinelle’s neck while still a distance away so he couldn’t grab it.

“Electric Justice, could you pull those earrings out of Coccinelle?” she asked and the Champion nodded, approaching cautiously.

“Shame you underestimated me,” Coccinelle said and grinned as he opened his hand to reveal a small spotted marble, his Lucky Charm. Before anyone could do anything, he tossed it at a light fixture nearby, causing it to crack and spark. That spark sending a misfire of electrical current that turned the whole stadium dark.

Húdié’s cane was knocked out of her hand and she was pushed to the ground in surprise.

“Húdié!” Chat rushed forward but grunted as a thump echoed. There was a crash and Húdié could only imagine Chat Noir got kicked back by the villain. Húdié braced herself and waited with bated breath for Coccinelle to strike, listening for a sound.

There was a screech of his yo-yo and she ducked, but it flew up into the sky and with a whoosh, there was silence.

“He got away,” Chat Noir said from far off. “I can’t see him anymore.”

“How did he managed to see in this darkness?” she asked but Chat Noir let out a murmur of confusion.

“No more rock and roll?” Electric Justice asked.

“Not anymore, thank you for your work,” she said and the butterfly flew out of Electric Justice’s guitar. Húdié caught the glowing creature in the dark and used that to guide her and Jagged Stone out, Chat Noir following them from behind and warning them of any wrong steps ahead.

When they reached the light, Penny rushed towards Jagged Stone and pulled him into a tight hug.

“I got so worried about you! I mean-” she stepped back in embarrassment. “I’m glad you’re alright.”

“Thanks, dear,” Jagged smiled and the two waved to the heroes and walked out of the stadium.

Húdié’s brooch chirped, signaling she now only had five minutes left, but there was still enough time to talk.

“We need to find out his next move,” she said to him.

“I… I think I caught onto something but…” he hesitated.

“But what?” Húdié asked in worry.

“It’s related to my secret identity. Should I…?” he waited for her response but Húdié shook her head.

“You can’t. If something happens to me then I could put you at risk knowing your identity. We don’t know if Coccinelle has any other Miraculous he can use against us. We so far know that he had two before we took this one from him. If he can find a way to access my mind with a hidden Miraculous then we’ll be in a lot of trouble if I know your identity.”

“What if he captures me and wants your identity?” Chat Noir asked. Húdié giggled.

“He’s after you. If he captured you he would just take your Miraculous. The only reason he’s after me is because I’m a nuisance to him.”

“I always forget,” Chat chuckled in embarrassment before realizing something, his expression turning serious.

“What’s wrong?”

“I… No… Nevermind,” he shook his head but that only made Húdié more curious.

“Is it something bad?”

“No, it’s just. There’s nothing stopping you from revealing yourself to me and it would be easier to know who you are. But I understand if you don’t want that and want to keep your identity safe. It’s important that we protect our families,” Chat said. If would be convenient to talk to him if needed, and if he knew her, she could talk with him more and get to know him, even just a little bit. He might feel more comfortable knowing it’s Marinette underneath the mask since she was the first person he saved.

“... I’ll think about it. It would be helpful to communicate. Even if it’s one sided there’s still a chance to talk more,” she agreed. Chat’s ears perked up and Húdié smiled.

“I’ll be waiting,” he smiled and pressed a kiss to her knuckles. Húdié felt her cheeks flush and she giggled a little higher than normal.

“See you around, Chat,” she said fondly and his tail twitched happily before he gave her a salute and took off.  Húdié watched him go before she hid back in Jagged Stone’s changing room and let the transformation fall.

“Do you think I should reveal myself?” Marinette asked. “Chat brought up a good point and I trust him. He’s my partner, with or without the mask.”

“Do you think you’re saying this with logic are you letting your heart decide what you want?” Nooroo asked worriedly, his wings drooping . Marinette blinked in surprise and frowned.

“I feel like I’m saying this logically,” she said.

“Just remember, your heart does it’s best to outshine reason. You must learn to control your emotions and while it is good to think with your heart, like your teacher said, there are times to be professional. If you base your response off your heart and reveal yourself, things will get more hectic for you because Chat Noir might drop in more and you’ve already piled yourself on with too many duties. I understand that you’ll have a larger chance to communicate, but is the added stress on your life worth it? Just take a week to think about it,” Nooroo said. Marinette murmured in agreement and opened her purse so Nooroo could slip inside and enjoy his cream puffs.

Her phone rang and she noticed the missed calls from her classmates, Alya calling her at the moment. Marinette inwardly cringed as she imagined the scolding she was about to get from everyone, especially Alya. She tried to do her best to not look suspicious when having to transform, but sometimes she wasn't able to successfully escape like this time, meaning that her friends would be anxious to know what happened to Marinette.

“Where are you?” Alya demanded when the designer picked up.

“I’m hiding in Jagged Stone’s changing room. I got separated and was scared so I hid in here."

“We’ll be there in a second, you stay right there,” Alya ordered and hung up. Marinette sighed and double checked on Nooroo to make sure he was comfortable before clipping her brooch safely in her blazer pocket.

Not too long after, the door opened and Marinette was surprised to see both Félix and Luka there, concern on their faces.

“Are you alright?” Luka asked as Félix examined her critically. “That man ran into you pretty hard and after that the crowd got worse. Good thinking taking cover in here to hide. Next time just text one of us that you’re alright.” 

She nodded and Luka guided her outside, Félix going off in search of his brother who had also hidden away in the backstage area from what Marinette heard from Luka. 

“Did they get in contact with Adrien?” Marinette asked and Luka nodded.

“He had been hiding in the lighting booth so he’s coming out to meet with Félix. You really scared us with your silence.”

Marinette recalled how upset Félix had gotten with her during Animan and deflated. This was the second time she made him unnecessarily worry about her. Every time she was trying her best to do something right there was always some way she messed it up.

“Marinette,” she avoided Luka's stare as guilt bore down on her.

“I don’t mean to scare them! I just… forget and then I feel bad when they’re upset because I don’t mean to…” she trailed off, not sure what to say. She couldn't say that she was Húdié.

She looked up in surprise when he put a hand on her shoulder, his smile warm, “It’s alright. We all make mistakes sometimes. The music in your heart is full of love and compassion for your friends and I know you would never scare them intentionally.”

“What should I tell them?” Marinette asked.

“Tell them how you feel. You don’t mean to hurt them and would never do such a thing. They would be happy hearing the truth coming from you. Also, just try to message them back when you're hiding is a good start to lower their anxiousness about you," Luka smiled.

“Thank you, Luka,” Marinette felt relieved at his encouragment. The two walked out and were met with her classmates waiting on her anxiously.

Alya was the first to approach her, pulling her tightly into a hug. The rest of the class joined in and finally moved back to give her a scolding.

“You can’t go running off like that! This is the second time I hear about this happening,” Alya shook her head and Marinette felt herself relax when she felt worry coming off of her friends, not anger. Of course her friends would be concerned about her safety, and Marinette had to be sure she didn't continue to abuse their kindness by keeping them in the dark when akuma attacks happened. Next time she will try to message them right before transforming so they don't worry about her.

“I’m sorry. I get too caught up in the moment trying to hide and be quiet that I forget to notify you guys what happened to me. I don’t mean to do that and I’ll try to make sure you know where I am next time,” she said. Alya pulled her into another hug.

“You better, girl,” she said and the class chuckled, patting the two girls on the back.

Adrien and Félix both returned looking annoyed with one another, Félix most likely chewing his brother’s ear off with his nagging. Nino was merciful and only gave him a gentle warning to at least notify them if they got separated and Adrien agreed, feeling better.

Penny then announced that the concert would be refunded but Jagged wasn’t going to be able to perform in big concerts like this for a while, wanting to make sure his fans were safe as well as work on some new songs that rose up from his battle as a Champion against the villainous Coccinelle. He was 'too inspired at the moment to rock and roll,' Penny quoted from Jagged.  The class stood there in uncertainty as the fans departed from the damaged stadium, excitedly chattering with one another.

“We still have some time to kill before heading home. What do you want to do?” Kim asked.

“How about we have our own concert?” Luka suggested. Everyone looked at him in surprise as he turned to Rose, Juleka, and Ivan, “You think we’re ready?”

“Kitty Section is ready for action!” Rose cheered and everyone laughed heartily, heading out to enjoy the rest of the beautiful sunny day.


	16. Chef Shifu

“If you tell one more embarrassing story I’ll kick you out of my house,” Sabine warned in Chinese. Uncle Cheng chuckled into his tea, trying to keep a straight face. Marinette was all giggles as she sipped her own cup.

“I would never say anything untowards my own niece,” Uncle Cheng replied solemnly but winked at Marinette, causing her to snort into her tea. Sabine glared at her daughter.

“You’re not going to get any soup today,” she warned.

“But Maman! I helped make it too!” Marinette complained with a giggle. Sabine shook her head.

“I always wondered where your mischievous side came from and now I know,” she gave her uncle a mean look but the two could tell there were no ill intentions towards it. Sabine was fond of her uncle, having learned how to cook from him at a young age before she immigrated to France to become a baker. He was always there to support her, helping her move and making sure to visit her often so she wouldn't feel too lonely while she adjusted to the new country. As she learned more about baking, the two passed information to one another and grew to a new level of respect and love for one another as they bonded over food. While growing up, Wang made sure to be a big influence on his great-niece as he was for his own niece, becoming her pen pal so Marinette could learn to write in Mandarin. As he gained popularity it became harder for the chef to visit France, but that didn't stop him from coming at any chance he could, such as a birthday or cooking competition.

“I could’ve sworn she got it from Tom’s side. I heard Roland’s a little,” he gestured to his head and Marinette looked at her mother curiously. Her parents never talked much about her grandfather so it surprised her that Uncle Cheng knew of him. Whenever Marinette would try to talk to her parents about her grandfather, the conversation always happened to change back to her somehow.

“Shūshu!” Sabine scolded and Uncle Cheng chuckled.

There was a knock and Marinette excused herself from the table to get the door, opening it to see the twins. Adrien was bubbling with excitement as usual and Félix was slightly more interested than normal today.

“You made it!” she smiled and let them in, the two noticing the rack of shoes by the door and taking their shoes off while Marinette closed the door behind them.

“Welcome,” Sabine greeted them as the two came in and shook their hands. Uncle Cheng got up from his seat and greeted the two of them with a shake.

“Hello,” he said in broken French and the twins bowed in reply.

“Hello,” they greeted in Chinese and Uncle Cheng brightened.

“You know Chinese, Mandarin no less?” he said and they nodded. He looked at Marinette, impressed she managed to find not just one, but two people that knew Chinese in Paris.

“We can sit on the couch,” Marinette said and moved their mugs to the table, grabbing some more for the guests.

“So what brings you both here?” Uncle Cheng asked.

“We heard that you were coming to visit and I asked Marinette if we could meet you to practice our Chinese. We mainly focus on Mandarin and do a little Cantonese but it’s hard to practice without a fluent speaker,” Adrien said.

“That’s how I got Marinette to speak it. I kept talking to her as a child so she picked it up quickly. We also talk a lot with one another by phone so she learned from her great-uncle as well,” Sabine said from the kitchen.

Marinette poured the tea for the twins and they thanked her, sipping some and savoring the warmth. She settled down after putting the pot away and Uncle Cheng began talking to the twins about his job, the two of them interested in learning about his favorite meals to make.

“Soups have always been my specialty. I taught Sabine when she was young to how to make the soup she’s going to serve us. I like to call her my disciple,” he said proudly and Sabine smiled from her spot in the kitchen.

“Maybe we’ll get you fully into baking and you can be my disciple,” she said and the teens smiled.

“If you like burnt pastries then I’m willing to bake for you,” Uncle Cheng replied with a chuckle. "I can only do so much with dough."

“If you want, you can help me with some tarte tatin,” Tom said in rough Chinese as he came in through the front door. Uncle Cheng pondered this until Sabine shook her head.

“He’s going to help me with the soup,” she said and Tom sighed.

“I can help with the tarte tatin!" Marinette offered and Tom brightened up.

“Really?” he asked and Marinette nodded. The twins were about to get up and help when Marinette had them stay so they could talk with Uncle Cheng more, the main reason for their visit. She headed downstairs with her dad while the twins sat on the couch alone as Marinette’s great uncle went to help Sabine.

While the bustling of pots and pans made it too loud to talk, the twins checked out the house and found it covered in red tapestries and Chinese paintings. Adrien noticed that the pillows on the couch had delicately stitched artwork and he smiled the more he looked at it, seeing Marinette’s signature apple blossoms in the stitching. She must’ve made some of the decor herself. Meanwhile Felix looked around with a small sense of familiarity with all of the red. It reminded him of something, but he couldn't tell of what.

“You both go to the same school as Marinette?” Chef Cheng asked when the noise in the kitchen died down and the twins nodded.

“We both just met her this year,” Adrien answered.

“She’s a hard worker, I hope she’s not stressing herself out too much,” Sabine said and her uncle nodded in worry.

“I try to warn her when she gets ahead of herself. Sometimes she listens but other times she doesn’t,” Félix sighed and Chef Cheng chuckled at that.

“She was always a spirited one. I remember meeting her for the first time wiggling around and babbling all the time, trying to grab everything. Her sister on the other hand was so calm and preferred to hold Marinette's hand, if she wasn’t wiggling all the time.”

“Sister?” this caught the twin’s interest at once. Chef Cheng paled and looked at Sabine who stared sadly into the soup. Félix immediately realized this was a sensitive topic and cut off Adrien who had opened his mouth to further press on the subject. 

“Marinette is constantly on the move, especially now that she’s class president,” Félix said quickly. Adrien glanced at his brother in confusion for the sudden change, but didn't press on it as Félix shook his head slowly. Adrien understood and let the conversation move on, but still was curious as to the mention of a sister. 

“Really?” the change of topic was relieving for the two Chengs and they continued to talk when Marinette returned to help her mother and great uncle in the kitchen with the rest of the meal. Adrien and Félix offered to help but the three Chengs declined since they didn’t want the guests to have to work. Instead, Uncle Cheng told them what they were making and what you would normally expect for dinner in China. They listened intently, fascinated as the wonderful aroma filled the house and the two older Chengs bickered about something they wanted to add to the food. Sabine wanted to keep the things her way since she was the hostess but Uncle Cheng was desperate to put his chef skills to use.

“Anything you both do will be great,” Marinette comforted but the two didn’t take that to heart. The only downside about their fondness of cooking was the appeal to be the dominate influence of the meal at the time. As they continued to argue, Marinette shook her head with a smile at the boys who grinned in return.

The twins planned on heading out to not disturb the family but they practically forced the twins to stay. Tom pulled out extra chairs while Marinette set up two extra spots at the table. It was small with six people even with all of the food placed in the kitchen to save space, but the twins didn’t mind. They laughed when Tom accidentally dropped some of the veggies into Sabine’s soup as he was trying to grab some from one of the many dishes laid out, and they listened diligently as Uncle Cheng told them his favorite stories of his visits to other countries for cooking. The adults answered any cooking and baking questions the twins had and the whole family pitched in stories on their cooking or baking mishaps. Sabine putting cayenne instead of paprika when she was making Christmas dessert, Tom accidentally adding extra yeast and his bread swelling to three times its size that it couldn’t even be taken out of the oven and ended up burning, Uncle Cheng and his soup that was saltier than the Dead Sea, and Marinette accidentally making three times the amount of cookies she was supposed to. They had tried to not laugh because they felt bad, but the more the Dupain-Cheng family laughed, the more the twins started to give in. Soon everyone was laughing at Marinette’s most recent mishap with badly misshapen croissants at the end of her folding.

“My fingers were hurting from making the derby hat so I could barely use them!” she tried to explain but Tom’s cough which sounded familiar to the word ‘excuses’ made Uncle Cheng roar with laughter. Adrien couldn’t help but join in with her uncle’s vigorous laughter and Félix snorted at Marinette’s offended look when Adrien started to laugh. 

Even with their mother, the twins never had this much fun at dinner before.

“Rice flour is amazing for making any type of bread,” Uncle Cheng declared when Tom mentioned it's what he usually uses when he makes muffins as they talked after dinner, letting themselves digest. The conversation had dropped to a lull and the Félix noted how sleepy he was, feeling content and at peace. He looked to his brother who was still listening to them talk attentively but his eyes blinked slowly, his tiredness clear.

“We usually use it for anyone with a gluten intolerance but it’s a nice flour to use if we want to add any different ingredients without the wheat flour overpowering it. It doesn’t rise as much but it’s as nice and elastic as wheat flour.”

“When you cooked for our birthday party- which was delicious I never got to thank you for that- what flour did you use then?” Adrien asked.

Tom chuckled happily with the praise before answering, “I used wheat because it has less calories and more fiber than rice which is what you want in your meals. And since it’s sweeter than rice flour, I put less sugar into the food than I would had I used rice flour.”

“I never realized cooking and baking requires so much needed thought,” Adrien hummed.

“It’s exceptional at the preparations that must be done beforehand as well as during the actual process and final presentation,” Félix added.

“Presentation is key!” Sabine said and Marinette nodded in agreement. “It’s what makes customers interested in the first place. Then the taste makes them come back for more.” Sabine winked and the twins grinned. Their mouths and jaws were sore at how much they had smiled and laughed all dinner.

“Speaking of taste, shall we try the tarte tatin?” Tom asked. Everyone perked up and Sabine started to clear the table. The twins this time refused to sit around and wait for the family to clean up, pitching in themselves as they picked up dishes and helped dry them as they were washed. Tom headed downstairs to grab the tarte that was keeping warm in one of the ovens in the bakery.

The family admired the tarte tatin as Tom presented it at the clean table, new dishes set up in order to eat the dessert. They cut it up and Tom served it to everyone, his large hands extremely gentle which secretly impressed the twins. 

Everyone talked some more and ate, enjoying the comforting environment as the dessert was eaten. The leftovers were put in the fridge and the family settled down on the couches with their tea, calmly hanging out and talking about simple things. Uncle Cheng was interested in the heroes and wanted to know more, proud that Húdié wore a lovely butterfly cheongsam.

“Butterflies are a sign of eternal life, you know,” he told the twins who were interested in learning more. “There’s a story called The Butterfly Lovers, or Liang Zhu, that is a perfect example of that.”

“That’s my favorite story,” Marinette sighed happily and Sabine nodded warmly as she fondly remembered telling her daughter it countless times when she was little.

“What’s it about?” Félix asked.

“A woman by the name of Zhu Yingtai wants to be a scholar but she’s expected to marry her fiance as the only daughter in her family so she disguises herself as a man and goes off to study. She ends up meeting another scholar by the name of Liang Shanbo and they fall in love. Zhu eventually reveals herself but it’s too late. By the time she does, her family wants her to marry her fiance immediately and when Liang finds out he starts to grow sick and eventually dies from his broken heart. Zhu is devastated as she goes with the wedding, but the procession is stopped by a huge gust of wind that prevents them from going beyond Liang’s grave so she decides to pay respects to him, in the end wishing to be with him. In a clap of thunder, the grave opens and she falls into it willingly to join him. In the end their spirits rise from the grave in the form of butterflies and fly off into the heavens together,” Uncle Cheng finished the story, picking up his cup and sipping some more tea as the twins sat there soaking it in.

“That’s awful,” Adrien finally said somberly.

“I like it,” Félix said and the Cheng family smiled at him. “In the end they two of them end up together, showing that their love is eternal, correct?”

“Yes, their souls are now together in the heavens where they live out their lives forever,” Sabine smiled.

Adrien’s phone rang and he sighed when seeing it was the Gorilla’s number. He looked up at his brother and they shared a knowing look, both of them sighing.  Félix sank in disappointment before blinking in surprise, realizing he actually didn’t want to leave. It felt… comfortable here. Soothing to sit and talk without any obligations lingering on his shoulders, forgetting any plans and simply enjoying the moment.  Adrien clearly felt the same as he reluctantly pulled himself off the couch and the two of them glumly started making their way to the front door and grabbing their shoes.

“You can always visit again. We’re all here tomorrow,” Tom said as he noticed the mood of the boys.

“You can also come for my cooking competition at Le Grand Paris the day after. I’ll be happy to have support,” Chef Cheng said and their spirits lifted. They thanked them for the meal and Adrien was surprised when Tom and Sabine pulled him into a warm hug.

“We’re always happy to have guests or if you stop by the bakery for a treat. You’re always welcome,” Sabine said and Adrien busily put on his shoes, trying not to tear up at her warm smile that reminded him so much of his mother. They never got any response from her no matter how many letters they sent to her hospital. Having this motherly warmth all the sudden was overwhelming.

Marinette walked the boys out to the car, chatting with them on the way down. The Gorilla and Nathalie were waiting in the warm car that sat idling as the twins came out. 

“Don’t be a stranger! We’ll be happy to see you both tomorrow, just send me a text!” Marinette smiled as they made their way to the car and opened the doors. They nodded before hopping into the car and driving off swiftly.  The two sat in silence as the Gorilla drove them back, Nathalie in the front seat looking at her tablet.

“Tomorrow you both have your music lessons in the morning. After you both study for a few hours, you're both free until dinner with your father,” she informed them.

“Can we go back tomorrow?” Adrien asked. Nathalie glanced back at them in surprise and noticed the hopeful look in his eyes. She looked at Félix and noticed the same expression in the boy. She hadn’t seen that expression in a while, especially from Félix.  Nathalie turned to the front and looked down at the schedule, thinking.

“Your friend, Mlle. Dupain-Cheng. She is in your class, correct?” Nathalie asked. The twins shared a confused look for a second.

“Yes,” Félix answered nervously.

“Is she a diligent student?” Nathalie asked. The twins shared an even more confused look.

“She’s the best. She’s class president and is always working hard,” Adrien said, lightly glossing over the fact that sometimes she barely managed to get her work done some days.

“Since your Sunday is relatively empty, how about you both go study with her tomorrow instead of being at home? I hear that a change in environment can make one more focused,” she suggested, holding back a smile as she looked in the rear-view mirror to see the twins share an excited glance; if they agreed that meant they would be able to spend more time at the Dupain-Cheng household.

“Thank you, Nathalie,” the boys said. The assistant adjusted the schedule according to the new plan, smiling gently as she finalized it.

The boys had both been reclusive the past year, especially Félix who had always been more introverted of a person. Gabriel enforced that by making Félix intern at his company which gave the boy no time to relax or interact with anyone his age. In order to make both boys equally busy, Adrien was shoved into more work as a model and thus his need for more physical activity increased, adding basketball onto the list of things the young boy already had on this plate. Gabriel’s schedule was law in their household, but some things could always be adjusted, especially with Nathalie in charge of it.

Nathalie knew how hard it was for these boys to have lost their mother; she herself losing her best friend in the process. Now Emilie was in a coma with no signs of waking up anytime soon and Gabriel was set on a goal to do whatever it took to get that ring back, uncaring about the consequences.

Nathalie worried for the boys and their classmates since they were his primary target. What’s worse was that by having the boys get close to Mlle. Dupain-Cheng, they were fulfilling their father’s wishes by getting more information on the class. Yet, Nathalie just wanted these boys to have some fun in their lives without being set on a schedule. They were still children and didn’t need the pressures of the world upon their shoulders.

She was determined to let them have some fun.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I want to clarify that I have no knowledge of the Chinese language and I apologize for any wrong interpretation. I stuck to Mandarin since it's the more common dialect and it would lead to less incorrect interpretation while writing.
> 
> In Mandarin, "Shūshu" means uncle. More specifically, it means 'the younger brother(s) of one's father'. The show doesn't give us an exact determination of Wang Cheng's age, so for the fic I have made him the younger brother of Sabine's father. 
> 
> Also: In this fic, we support Nathalie as a good assistant who just wants the twins to be happy


	17. Night Owl

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for waiting for me! It's been very hectic with everything happening and I haven't had time to focus on writing with school and other extra curriculars that have kept me occupied. But now it's summer vacation so I'm finally free to do more writing. I hope all of you are doing well during these stressful times, and if you ever need a listening ear I'm always here for you. Make sure to take care of your mental health as well as your physical health, and most importantly stay safe.

"What if Mayor Bourgeois is Coccinelle?" Chat Noir asked and Húdié continued to laugh, her eyes watering and the harsh headache she had from the morning subsiding. They had just stopped a quick theft in the morning while both were on the way to school, surprised to find one another there. Chat usually dealt with these cases alone when he could which Húdié hadn't known about it until just now. They talked about it and Húdié was touched to hear about how protective he was of Paris even without fighting Coccinelle. He was a good hero, even more thoughtful than her.

"You're getting that look on your face that says you're guilty about something," Chat said and poked her brow, causing her to flush and relax her furrowed brow.

"I mean, I feel like I could do more-"

"You're busy all the time. I'm doing this because I want to and I feel like I can do more for the city. You on the other hand need to learn how to take a break."

"But-"

"Relax, you only need to come out when Coccinelle attacks. Other than that I don't want you to stress out more than you have too. We got to look out for each other, Bugaboo." Chat Noir smiled. Húdié's face went scarlet at the nickname.

"B-Bugaboo?" she squeaked. Chat Noir chuckled sheepishly.

"Sorry, I just wanted to try it. I won't say it if it makes you uncomfortable."

"Oh no no I don't mind. We're friends so nicknames are okay." Húdié said shyly.

"Really?" Chat Noir beamed and then looked at her thoughtfully, "What about my nickname?" 

"Oh um," Húdié panicked, having not thought of one. "All I can think of is Chaton."

"Chaton!" Chat's ears perked up and Húdié tried not to giggle at his wide eyes, his smile big, "I like it!"

"That's a relief," she said and was about to continue when the bell tower of a nearby church rang. The two looked towards the bell, paling in unison.

"I'm late for school!" they exclaimed simultaneously. The two blinked at each other and then chuckled. 

"Guess we need to leave then," Chat said.

"I'll see you for patrol?" she asked hopefully and he nodded.

"Always," he said before running off, using his baton to pole vault himself to school. Húdié followed from a distance, already knowing what school Chat was from since the textbook incident.

He landed somewhere outside of the school and Húdié made sure to avoid his location as she dropped down and detransformed in a nearby alley, letting Nooroo sneak into her purse. She noticed his movements were rather lethargic as he slipped inside but the ringing bell nearby made her jump in fright before racing to school.

She barely made it inside as D'Argencourt closed the door, giving an annoyed look to the student as she ducked under his arm sheepishly.

Marinette ran up the steps and was about to enter class when she looked into the classroom but didn't see everything set up for the class project that Alya was supposed to prepare before class. Alya spotted her and waved happily, but when Marinette mouthed about the project the girl paled. She started to get up when Marinette waved her hand in dismissal. She spun around and rushed down the hallway just as Adrien made his way up the steps and slipped into class as the bell rang. 

“Glad you could join us today, Adrien,” Mlle. Bustier smiled jokingly and Adrien gave a weak smile, quickly sliding into his seat.

“Sorry, Mlle. Bustier,” he apologized and she gave him another smile before looking at the spot behind him.

“Does anyone know where Marinette is?”

“She's getting the supplies right now,” Alya informed the teacher and Mlle. Bustier nodded as she started roll call. As she finished, Marinette hurried into the room, her hands full of supplies and nearly spilling over. 

“Sorry, Mlle. Bustier! I had to grab the supplies from the art room!” she apologized while Adrien got up and took most of the load for her. Marinette shot the blond a thankful smile.

“Perfect timing! You both can pass around the supplies while I explain what we’re doing today before our lessons,” she told the class president and the model who nodded and started handing out the cards and markers.

“We have a new transfer student coming in from Italy tomorrow. Her name is Lila Rossi and with her parents traveling often due to their jobs, I figured it’s hard for her to make friends coming into a new school every time. I want to give her a warm welcome so what better way than to make up a gift for her?”

Everyone chatted excitedly, wondering what the new student would be like. Rose could be heard in the back wondering what places she would like to visit in Paris while Max pondered what job her parents must have that require constant traveling. Nathaniel was already busy decorating his card, happily drawing in class with permission. They all got settled into drawing their cards, talking with one another.

“I wonder if she’ll mind sitting next to Chloé?" Alya asked Marinette. "So far no one is still putting up with her. Maybe Sabrina could sit next to Chloe and the new girl could sit with Ivan? Even though he looks intimidating and might scare her initially,” Alya said before humming thoughtfully, “What if we can switch around seats? We could even get Mylène and Ivan to sit together. Maybe you and Adrien can sit together too.” Alya winked.

"Me and Adrien?" Marinette questioned with a frown, unsure of what her friend was implying.

"You don't really think I would catch on about your crush?" Alya winked the blood drained from Marinette's face. How had she found out about her crush on Chat Noir? Was she that obvious? Did she see her sketchbook with all of the outfit ideas?

"Come on, when I asked you about your type of guy you mentioned green eyes and blond hair who is super sweet, and who else class has green eyes and blond hair that fits that category?" Alya gave a pointed look to the boy below who was talking about videos with Nino.

"No no no not Adrien," Marinette rushed in embarrassment. Alya now blinked in surprise.

"Then who?"

"Ah-uh- a guy in my karate class!" Marinette fibbed, "He's my… partner! We work a lot together."

"Anything else besides that?" Alya grinned slyly.

"Nothing at all! Totally nothing at all... because I can't confess to him," Marinette sighed mournfully.

"That sounds like quitter talk," Alya said and Marinette hopelessly gestured.

"Even though we make jokes and laugh a lot he's very business-like with me. In the end we're just partners," Marinette sighed again and continued working on her card.

"That's because you haven't done anything to make him notice you, girl!" Alya pointed out.

"I know but I'm so busy! With the new class president duties along with school work and babysitting, I haven't had time to make anything," Marinette huffed.

"Oh, well if that's the problem I can take over some things as your deputy! Just let me know what you need help with! Except today because my mom wants me to go pick up the Gremlins today from school since Nora is busy," Alya grumbled, "She always picks the worst times to leave the house for her work."

"What happened this time?" Marinette asked and Alya ranted about the twins latest catastrophe until Mlle. Bustier urged everyone to finish their letters, wanting to get started with the class. Afterwards Marinette collected the markers and took them back to the art room with the help of Nathaniel.

"I miss our mornings together," Nathaniel said and Marinette looked at her friend to see him glumly staring at the floor as they walked. It had been a while since they met up in the mornings to go over art ideas. With the duties as class representative, Marinette slept in more to catch up on missing sleep from staying up late.

Nathaniel smiled though, looking at Marinette before she could say anything, "But I understand. You have a ton of extra stuff to do nowadays so it must be hard on you."

"It's really hard," Marinette agreed somberly. "I had to close my commissions because now I have class president duties."

"Doesn't Alya help you at least?"

"Well…" Marinette shrugged, "She's usually busy with Noir News now that she doesn't have time to help."

"But you're pretty busy too. You had to give up something you do because of your new responsibilities. Don’t think I’ve noticed you also have been drinking more tea and coffee which means you’re more tired than normal. You need to learn how to relax a little or even learn to give some responsibility to someone else."

"You sound like Felix," Marinette chuckled.

"Well, he is my deskmate," Nathaniel shrugged.  This made Marinette laugh brightly and the redhead smiled proudly, happy to see he made her laugh. They walked back to class and came into the courtyard, frezzing in surprise when they spotted Coccinelle in the center. He was once again being scolded by D’Argencourt as a nearby custodian contacted the police on his phone as students that were working out in the courtyard escaped into the locker rooms.

“Get to the classroom and warn, Mlle. Bustier. I’ll go tell Principal Damocles,” Marinette said.

“But you might get hurt!” Nathaniel exclaimed in worry.

“I’ll be fine, trust me,” Marinette smiled and took off before Nathaniel could say anything else.

She ran into an empty classroom, opening her purse to see Nooroo laying still in a deep sleep.

“Nooroo?” Marinette asked in surprise, the kwami not waking up despite all of the nervous energy around that usually signified an attack. She poked the kwami who wheezed, curling in.

“Nooroo…?” she gingerly pulled out the kwami who laid there, whimpering silently. Marinette could now feel his emotions, lethargic and in pain. He curled up into her palm and Marinette paled, unsure of what to do.

She didn’t want to transform in case Nooroo got worse, but she didn’t know how to heal him either. Could she take him to a vet? But what was she even going to say to them? Tell them her magic bug got sick?

“Nooroo, you have to wake up so I can help you,” she urged the kwami gently and he finally opened his eyes but didn’t seem to see her.

“It’s wrong, Master…” Nooroo mumbled. Marinette began freaking out as the kwami continued to mumble nonsense.  “The Ladybug and Cat must never… don’t use the Wish… death…”

“Nooroo please wake up,” Marinette desperately whispered as she nudged her kwami but he wasn’t waking up. She tried to give him a cream puff but he was too delirious to do so.  Marinette put the kwami gently in her purse and decided to look up the nearest veterinarian, completely unsure of what to do. As she found a location and got up, she noticed a tiny green figure across the room. She gazed at it now and noticed that it was watching her in return.  She slowly stood up with uncertainty as the small green figure came closer to her. It floated in a very familiar pattern and her eyes widened as she noticed it looked like a small turtle.

“What are you?” she asked. “Are you a kwami?”

“That I am,” the kwami nodded. “My name is Wayzz. I’m here to help Nooroo.”

“You can heal him? Oh thank you!” Marinette came forward eagerly but the kwami didn’t look happy, regarding her warily.

“I will not be able to carry him myself, you will have to follow my instructions,” he said and she nodded.

“Please, anything to help Nooroo,” Marinette said and Wayzz relaxed. He told her to leave the school and he slipped into her jacket as she quickly snuck out amidst the commotion outside, Coccinelle once again terrorizing students in other classrooms which only urged her onward. She had to be back soon in order to protect her classmates, and especially Chat who would be fighting alone.

Once she was out, Wayzz flew out and took off, Marinette running after him with her purse gingerly in her hands. They ran far away from the school, leaving the usual neighborhood Marinette was familiar with. Since many people were in school or at work, the streets were relatively empty which allowed the green kwami to fly in the open without regards to any watchers. When there were people thought, he would hide in her hair and tell her where to turn as she ran. Although tiring the longer she ran, her determination to make sure Nooroo was safe kept her going past her burning muscles and harsh pants.

They arrived at an acupuncture shop and Wayzz phased through the door without a second thought. Marinette hesitated before walking in, cautiously keeping an eye out for anything unusual. The green kwami waited for her in front of another door, watching her take in the room.

“This way,” he said when she deemed the room was cleared and he phased through the other door. Marinette entered after the kwami, walking into a normal acupuncture shop that looked similar to the one her mother goes to now and then. 

She had little time to admire the room as the man in the bright red Hawaiian shirt caught her attention. He looked a little familiar to her as she approached.

“Hello, Marinette. I was hoping our first meeting would be a later time, but this will have to do.”

“Can you help Nooroo?” she asked and he nodded. Marinette opened her purse and sat at the edge of the futon, presenting the small kwami to the older man. He carefully took the ill kwami and placed Nooroo on the pillow, extending his hands over the kwami.

Marinette watched the man’s expressions as he closed his eyes. He seemed thoughtful at first, then his eyes furrowed slightly. A frown came next and Marinette gripped her bag anxiously as the worry came off the older man. It looked grim as the man continued to hover his hands over the weak kwami.

“Have you been having headaches recently?” he asked and she nodded.

“Yes. I had some small headaches now and then in the past. Almost a month ago I got a severe migraine and after that my headaches are occurring more often. I thought it was just because I’m tired.”

“Do they happen consistently or around certain people?” he asked and Marinette thought back, trying to remember.

“I can’t really say but they usually happen when I’m around my friends or with my classmates.”

“Can you recall the time you had the severe migraine? What was happening?”

Marinette thought back on the events, how she had been arguing about a lost bracelet until the migraine came out of nowhere, causing her to pass out from the pain. She told him as such and tried to recall the people there, unsure about everything due to the pain eventually overwhelming her. 

“This is worse than I expected,” the acupuncturist sighed.

“Is Nooroo going to be okay?” Marinette asked. He nodded but still looked worried.

“He’ll be fine but the issue is that these will only get worse. What do you do on a normal basis? Do you have any notable extra curricular activities?”

“I help my parents with their work, I babysit, then I used to do my own work until I started doing more in school as class president. I also started kung fu not too long ago and I go twice a week,” Marinette didn’t mention being Húdié just to be safe. While he seemed to know her and the kwami, Marinette wasn't sure what exactly he did know.

“How much sleep do you get?” he asked.

“Not much. It’s hard for me to sleep recently. I’ve had to drink more coffee and tea to keep me awake.”

“Can you lay down on your stomach for a moment while I check something?” he asked and Marinette nodded in confusion. She took off her shoes and did as instructed, laying on her back while Nooroo remained on the pillow nearby.

The man poked her back with his fingers, sending jolts to other parts of her body. He felt for her neck before resuming to pressing on spots on her back before letting her sit up again and putting Nooroo back in front of him.

“You’re overworking yourself,” he said.

“I know but Nooroo is hurt!” Marinette exclaimed desperately.

“The issue is that Nooroo is under a curse at the moment. His former holder put a deep curse on the kwami before he was put under my care. I tried to break it but when doing so the curse ended up hurting him in return. I did as much as I could to heal Nooroo but I can only do so much until the curse is removed, which I’m unable to do with lack of resources. Nooroo, while a strong kwami and one of the best out there, lives off of emotions. If he’s in a constantly stressed environment then he will eventually become distressed, and with this curse on him, makes him weaker. He’s usually strong enough to not let it get to you, but sometimes it slips through and ends up hurting you as well. This is why you’re getting those migraines.”

“What about the lack of sleep?”

“Because you’re overburdening yourself you end up stressing your body out which leads to disruptive sleep.”

“So… me getting stressed about everything I’m doing is hurting Nooroo?” Marinette asked softly. The acupuncturist nodded and Marinette clenched her fist as she stared down at the ill kwami in guilt. She had done this to her friend. He and everyone else around Marinette had told her to relax and she didn’t, now this was the consequence of it.

“I’m so sorry, Nooroo,” Marinette whispered.

“Nooroo will be alright, but I suggest you start making changes to your life to prevent this stress from affecting Nooroo from now on. With Nooroo injured like this, it’s harder for you to transform and thus leave Chat Noir at risk. I gave you the Miraculous because I knew you would be the best person to protect Chat Noir and you have done so wonderfully. You learned from your enemy and have become a better fighter from it, the only issue now is just making sure that you don’t wear yourself out before the big fight arrives. You need all of your strength until then. I’ll heal him the best I can, but you must know that Nooroo is in a fragile state right now. I didn’t want to put him into battle but you were best suited for his Miraculous at the moment.”

“I’ll do better to protect him,” Marinette nodded and the man smiled.

“I know you will. You’re a smart and brave girl, Marinette Dupain-Cheng, which is why I picked you."

Chat was worried. He had been fighting Coccinelle in the school for a while now and there was still no sign of Húdié. He had taken cover in the locker rooms that had been emptied as the students escaped from there but he only had a short time until Coccinelle found him.

He heard screams and ran out of the locker rooms with a small curse; of course Coccinelle would start terrorizing students just to lure him out.  Yet the students crowded around the courtyard, their screams actually being cheers as Coccinelle fought a large man that looked like an owl.

"Go Principal Damocles!" the students yelled before Húdié guided them out of the school. Chat Noir landed next to her in worry.

"Are you okay?" he noticed she was looking exhausted but she flashed him a tiny smile.

"My kwami got sick so I had to make sure he was okay before transforming."

"Kwamis get sick?" Chat asked in surprise and Húdié nodded weakly. They got separated as the crowd expanded and they focused on getting the students out while Chat Noir thought about it.  What would he do if Plagg got really ill? He's a good but also looks like a cat so maybe a veterinarian? But how was he going to explain Plagg's cheese diet which he knew the veterinarian wouldn't like to hear since cats can't consume dairy.

Coccinelle was bound together by Night Owl's own contraption and struggled to break free. He summoned his lucky charm and started to use it to break free while the rest of the students escaped. 

"Perfect angle," Chat looked to see Alya recording from behind the stairs.

"Not anymore, you're getting out of here," he started to urge the girl until there was a familiar whirring of Coccinelle's yo-yo. He turned and braced himself but only saw Coccinelle pulling himself up into the sky and taking off.

"We still have time to chase him!" Húdié said and Chat Noir nodded. He grabbed Húdié as she recaptured her butterfly from Night Owl. Chat extended his baton up to the rooftops and they raced across the roofs together after the spotted villain.

Chat Noir sped forward, sniffing out the villain and catching sight of him as he slipped into the underground metro. Chat Noir put his baton against the side of the building and extended it again, rocketing him right down the metro stairs. He rolled gracefully onto the floor as people moved away in surprise.

Chat Noir looked around and caught Coccinelle running into the tunnels. He called Húdié as he pursued,  "He's heading to the next stop as the subway, you might be able to catch him!" he said.

"Got it!" She replied and hung up as Chat Noir ran in the dark, his night vision helping him greatly. He couldn't see Coccinelle but he could hear his pounding footsteps as the villain tried to escape.

Light was shining at the end of the tunnel and Chat Noir could see that he was right on Coccinelle's tail. He extended his baton once more and grinned as he tackled the villain, knocking the two down just as they reached the metro stop. Onlookers gasped and pointed as the two tussled until Húdié arrived.

"Cataclysm!" Chat Noir yelled as Coccinelle prepared to launch his yo-yo at the hero. He readied himself to catch the yo-yo when Húdié and the others let out a cry of surprise.

"Watch out for the train!" Húdié shouted and Chat looked behind in him surprise. The yo-yo smacked him across the head and Chat grunted, flailing as as he fell back. With his free hand Chat found his grip on the yo-yo and tugged it to keep himself from falling, but Coccinelle wasn't prepared to catch him. The sudden yank pulled Coccinelle forward and the two tumbled over the tracks, Coccinelle falling onto Chat. Chat stuck his hands out to stop the villain from crushing him and gaped as his Cataclysmed hand made contact with the villain.

Chat's eyes widened in horror as the villain let out a holler of pain and jumped up, lurching away and throwing his yo-yo, pulling himself out of there. Chat could only stare at his hand in terror at what he just did. He had touched a person with the Cataclysm. He could've killed Coccinelle.

"Chat!" Húdié jumped into the tracks and started to pull the hero off the tracks. The train's horn blared which allowed for Chat Noir to jolt to partial alertness and use his baton two get the two of them out of there.

The subway raced by as they crashed down into the ground, bystanders making space for them and they got up

"Are you alright?" Húdié asked before realizing she was on top of her partner. She jumped off of him as if burned before moving to his side, face as red as Coccinelle's suit. Chat got up but looked at the tracks to see no one there, Coccinelle having escaped.

"I-I'm fine. We were so close that time," he sighed and Húdié nodded, helping him up.

"Are you okay?" she asked. "You're distressed."

"Ah," Chat glanced around at the people pulling out their phones, "maybe not here."

"Let's go then," she encouraged but Chat frowned.

"But Coccinelle is escaping."

"And he escapes every other time, right now you're more important," she said and after a pause, Chat nodded in agreement. They landed on a rooftop just as his miraculous chirped.

He blinked in surprise at it, "I'm not used to mine going off."

"That's right, you never use your powers," Húdié realized.

"It's better that way because I wouldn't have a lot of time to escape if I needed to. Plus it means Coccinelle could continue to disturb Paris without any worries. How are you feeling, by the way?"

"I'm feeling better. Right now though we need to talk about you. What happened?" Húdié put a comforting hand on his shoulder and Chat found his shoulders slumping as the grief bore down on him. Coccinelle's holler of pain still echoed in his head.

"I- I accidentally Cataclysmed Coccinelle," Chat breathed, gripping his fists tightly. He heard Húdié's sharp intake in breath and he flattened his ears in shame and fear. What was she going to think of him now?

"I didn't mean to! The train was coming and I accidentally grabbed the yo-yo and pulled him on top of me and- it just happened so fast," Chat felt his insides squirm as the fear started to overwhelm him.

"You didn't mean to, Chaton. Look at me," her voice was gentle and he lifted his face to gaze at her warm expression. "You are a good hero. I know you would never do that on purpose, even if they're a villain. Accidents happen like this all the time. We're still learning our powers every day, and we're bound to make mistakes."

"But what if I did it to a civilian on accident?"

"No civilians will ever get hurt. We always make sure to clear the area so no one can be in close range to the fight when you have to use it."

"What about your Champions? What if they get hurt on accident?"

"They're tougher than you think, Chaton. Same with me, and same with Coccinelle. We're all equipped with magic powers so while it may hurt as we saw, we will live. We'll be okay. It's okay," she pulled him into a hug and Chat leaned into her embrace, squeezing her tightly. Just hearing her voice made him feel better, and the points she made soothed his anxiety. She had a way to make him feel comfortable and safe, whether it be in her arms or just by her side.

Húdié giggled, "I take it you're feeling better if you're purring."

Chat chuckled, pulling back with a sheepish grin, "You always make me feel better. There's something magical just by being with you that makes me feel happy."

Húdié's cheeks went rosy as she giggled, hands gesturing randomly about her in a state of fluster, "Guess it comes with the whole emotions Miraculous."

"Speaking of, is your kwami alright?" Chat asked in concern.

"Yes, I managed to get him taken care of, but he's still really weak so I'm worried about him," Húdié's shoulders dropped and now Chat put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Take your time. Your kwami's health is the most important thing."

"Thank you, Chaton," Húdié said and giggled when he puffed up happily. His ring chirped again and he sighed at it before looking back at her with a grin.

"Guess it's time for this cat to scat. Take care, Bugaboo! Good job!" he gave her a fist bump and she waved him off as he flew across Paris back to school.

He landed and detransformed in a nearby alley before sneaking back onto school grounds, watching the students milling about the front gates as they excitedly chattered. Others were watching Alya interview M. Damocles about being the new Champion which allowed for Adrien to slip inside without a problem grab his bags from his locker before heading outside. He figured classes were going to be cancelled after this, so he leisurely strolled about trying to find a familiar face to figure out what happened while he was gone.

“Hey!” Nino waved and Adrien smiled. 

“I can’t believe Húdié made M. Damocles a Champion this time,” he said before Nino could ask him any questions about where he had been. As much as Adrien loved that his friends were looking out for him, he struggled to hide it from them. His guilt about keeping everything a secret while they constantly worried about him caused him to make lame excuses and thus make Adrien look more suspicious. The quicker he distracted them, the less he had to lie. 

“Right? It was totally awesome even if the outfit looked a little weird since it was based on his original costume. Who knew that the principal could be that cool?”

“Maybe Coccinelle will stop trying to attack our school. He’s already attacked once before so this should be a clear sign to stay away,” Kim said as he and Max approached them. 

Due to many students having already left and his newfound ‘coolness,’ M. Damocles let everyone go home for the rest of the day to relax. Adrien walked out the front doors with the rest of the guys before spotting his brother who just got off the phone with the Gorilla from the looks of it. Adrien sighed, secretly hoping his brother hadn’t been so responsible so they could walk home from school for once like his other classmates were. They all waved goodbye to the twins who stood at the steps, waving as they walked their classmates head out with the rest of the school.

There was a long break of silence where no other students left, leaving the two in silence as Félix pulled out a book to read. Adrien got out his phone and started to play one of the games he installed from Nino's recommendation until Marinette rushed out of school alone, looked frantic as she held her purse in front of her. She nearly tripped down the steps on her way down and the twins cringed as she barely managed to avoid face planting into the floor. She noticed them watching and her face went scarlet.

“Um- hehe. That was a step away from a disaster! I’ll stair you later-  _ see _ you later!” she sputtered and ran off in the complete opposite direction of her house. The twins watched her as she looked into her purse while running, her shoulder ramming right into a pole with a thunk. She caught herself again and turned the corner with ease as if she hadn’t crashed into anything.

“Sometimes, I worry about her,” Félix said and Adrien looked at him.

"Sometimes?" Adrien asked.

"Correction, I always worry about her.*

"Much better," Adrien agreed.

The Gorilla arrived and the two headed home, arriving through the front gates with ease. They entered the house and noticed that the office door was open.

“We’ll have to explain ourselves to him as to why we are early,” Félix sighed and Adrien nodded. They entered the office but to their surprise saw that no one was inside. They walked in curiously and Adrien spotted an old book on Gabriel’s desk, heading over to it and opening it up in interest as he wondered why his father would have such an old book.

Adrien stilled, his stomach dropping as he looked back at a person dressed like an ancient Chinese version of Chat Noir. He couldn’t read the writing on the page but he continued to browse it anyway before turning the page.

A woman dressed as a purple butterfly posed in the next one, her cane sword obvious in her hand. Adrien had an unsettling feeling about this. He wanted to talk to Plagg but with his brother around Adrien was trapped in his uncertainty bubbling within him.

“What’s that?” Félix asked as Adrien went to the next page revealing a person dressed as a peacock. The twin stared in surprise before his expression changed to something else. Adrien watched his brother reach out and brush his fingers along the image of the peacock.

“I’ve seen this before,” he mumbled.

“You have?” Adrien asked in surprise and Félix nodded with the puzzled expression still on his face.

“Like in a dream…” he trailed off. They heard the slamming of car doors and the twins vigorously closed the book shut and darted out of the room, coming out just as Gabriel entered with Nathalie.

To say Gabriel looked sick was the least of it. Nathalie was supporting their father as they stumbled in, Gabriel as pale as the white stripes on his cravat. His hair was in disarray and he stumbled through the doorstep, Nathalie barely able to get him up. He wheezed heavily, grasping his chest while Nathalie coaxed him through the front door.

“Père!” the twins hurried over and helped Nathalie with their father, taking him to his bedroom. He leaned heavily on the boys, his eyes closed and breathing hard as he struggled to walk.  They entered his room and placed him down on the bed where the Gorilla attended to him while Nathalie ushered the boys out.

“What happened? Is he okay?” Adrien asked.

“He got really sick at work. They don’t know what it is, so he’s going to stay home for the rest of the day. Why are both of you home already?” she asked sternly.

“He looks extremely ill, you have to call a doctor,” Félix ignored the assistant.

“We will, you both just stay upstairs while we handle this. Go study or do… something,” Nathalie urged with a distressed look on her face. The twins let her push them up the stairs before she hurried back down and entered Gabriel’s room as they stood, watching her.

“What could’ve happened? He doesn’t have any allergies. Or does he?”

“You’re the only one with an allergy. He might’ve gotten stomach poisoning,” Félix frowned.

“This is bad,” Adrien started to go down the stairs but Félix stopped him with a firm grip on his arm.

“We can’t do anything. We have to wait this one out.”

“I don’t want to lose Père too,” Adrien turned defiantly towards his brother. Félix let go in surprise as Adrien marched down, trying for the door only to find it locked. He grumbled and sat in front of it, waiting for them to open it again.

The doctor arrived and Nathalie went to get him while the Gorilla kept Adrien back from the room. They closed it again and Adrien glared at the door the Gorilla blocked, sitting in front of it as he waited for it to open again.

As the minutes went by Adrien grew anxious. This was just how their mother had gotten ill. She had been fine initially until suddenly stumbling through the door in their father’s arms, her face pale and coughing up blood. She fell into a coma not too long after and was taken to the hospital where they tried to treat her with no results. Their father pulled her out of the hospital and sent her away, leaving without a proper goodbye. Was the same going to happen to their father?

Adrien gripped his knees as he remembered how devastating it was. The coldness in their father's eyes as he said their mother was gone and wouldn't be coming back for a while. But the gleam in his eyes that assured the twins she would be completely healthy when she returned left Adrien uneasy. Yet even after that odd assurance from him, s o far no treatment was found and Adrien worried that the same would happen to their father.  Adrien's eyes started to tear up and he blinked quickly, stopping them before they could fall. He couldn't lose both of them.

Hours passed when the doctor came out but they still wouldn't let him go in, instead telling him to go eat dinner. Adrien refused to eat until he could see his father.

So Adrien didn't eat.

The house was dark and there was still no response from Nathalie. No one had come in or out and the Gorilla had pulled up a chair and was sitting on it as he kept an eye on Adrien.

Adrien sighed, resting his head on the back of the stairway with heavy and tired eyes when he noticed something above on the steps. He stood curiously and his eyes widened in surprise as he looked up at his twin brother who was resting his head on the rail, eyes closed. His book bag was still over his shoulder which meant that he hadn't moved after Adrien left him hours ago. Despite his colder demeanor, it looked like Félix cared as much as Adrien did for their father. He must be just as stressed with the situation, and the realization that if both of their parents left, they would only have each other. If Adrien couldn't help his mother or father, he could at least help his brother.

Adrien went up the stairs and gently nudged his sleeping brother.

"Let's go to bed, Fé," Adrien said softly and the taller blond groggily opened his eyes. Adrien nudged him up and the two went to bed, going to sleep with doubt hovering over the household until the morning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now we're getting to the good stuff >:)


	18. The Miraculous

"How did it go?" Master Fu asked as Marinette arrived. Her shoulder was still throbbing where she rammed it into a pole but that wasn't her main concern right now. 

"It went okay. We almost had Coccinelle but the train got in the way which allowed him to escape. We lost sight of him but at least Nooroo is okay. By the way, what happens when Chat Noir Catalysms something? He accidentally made contact with Coccinelle but he didn't die or crumble to pieces, but when he touched the trash the first time we met it turned to dust." She couldn’t help but ask now that she had the chance to learn more.

"It causes misfortune to whatever he touches, so in most cases the worst misfortune is complete destruction of the item. In other cases, it might cause an illness or plague that infects a person. If used on a Miraculous holder like Coccinelle, t he suits have powers that absorb the brunt of the attack through the kwami but it still hurts the wielder so both can be grievously injured. If your Miraculous item like Coccinelle's yo-yo or your cane get destroyed it hurts the kwami more than the wielder. It'll be awhile before the kwami can transform and if they do then the wielder won't be fully able to access all functions of the suit until some time later after the kwami heals. The only exception is Chat Noir himself since his baton has no direct correlation to his Cataclysm unlike Coccinelle's Lucky Charm or you summoning Champions. If his baton were to get hit with Cataclysm, all he would have to do is destrasnform and transform again."

"Is there any way to heal or fix them?"

"It requires a lot of rest in order to heal both the wielder and kwami. If what you say is true and Chat Noir really did use his Cataclysm on Coccinelle, I think you'll both have a break for now while he recovers. This will be the perfect time to find out who he is."

"How do we do that?"

"I should tell you how I first acquired the Cat Miraculous in order for you to understand." Master Fu said and Marinette listened in interest. Meanwhile he got Nooroo settled down onto a cushion, Wayzz tending to the weak kwami while Master Fu started.

"for the past fourteen years I had been using my powers very minimally, keeping an eye out because Wayzz sensed that the Ladybug and Cat Miraculous were both here. Long ago, even before then, I made a mistake that ended up destroying the Temple of the Guardians and losing some important books along with several Miraculous. The biggest ones that I lost were the Ladybug, Cat, Butterfly, and Peacock Miraculous. So when Wayzz felt them here being wrongly used around fourteen years ago, I knew I had to come and try to reclaim them. It was the least I could do for my mistake.

"Unfortunately, I could never find them no matter how hard I looked until last year. I was patrolling when I spotted a woman wearing the Peacock Miraculous. She rushed over to me and I had been prepared to fight her until she collapsed, coughing up blood. She told me her Miraculous was broken after she and her husband used the Wish fourteen years ago, around the time I felt the Miraculous being used incorrectly. Her husband was currently trying to make another Wish to heal her but she didn't want to do it after learning the repercussions so she stole the Cat Miraculous and gave it to me. I have been trying to find her ever since then but all I have is this picture of her I found in the butterfly brooch the day Plagg returned it to me." Master Fu had gotten up as he talked and pulled out a small photo from drawer, handing it to her. 

The woman in the picture looked familiar with blonde hair and green eyes. Her smile was warm as she posed for the camera.

"What is a wish?" Marinette asked as she looked at the image.

"The Wish is what happens when the Ladybug and Cat Miraculous are both used together. Anyone who wields them both has the ability to make one wish that can give them anything they want, but the consequences are severe. If you wish for money, someone might lose all of their money. If you wish for fame, someone might lose their entire reputation. If you wish to bring back the dead, someone will die in their place. The recoil can happen to anyone; a friend, a lover, or a random stranger. But having the mindset of not caring what happens to anyone else is already terrifying for someone to have, especially one with power like the Wish."

"Did you ever figure out what they used the Wish for the first time fourteen years ago?"

"No, she didn’t have time to explain. By the time she handed the Cat Miraculous to me, her partner who was only wearing the Butterfly Miraculous had caught up and she fought him off to allow for me to escape. I never saw them after that until Coccinelle's first arrival. I released the Cat Miraculous because it's the perfect counterbalance to the Ladybug which would benefit an inexperienced fighter, but I didn't expect him to equip the Butterfly as well. If you hadn’t stepped in I don’t know what would’ve happened to Paris. 

“At once I knew this was the husband of the Peacock Miraculous holder and I fear for her life since she hasn't appeared since then. A broken Miraculous can cause severe damage to the holder which is why I was so reluctant in giving you the Butterfly since Nooroo was unwell. But this Miraculous is the one that suits you the best as of now and I knew you wouldn't be able to fight with your injured leg."

"When you said that I was meant for the Ladybug, what did you mean?"

"There are certain people that are compatible with specific Miraculous which brings out their true abilities. While you do well with the Butterfly Miraculous due to your kindness and strong judgment of character, the Ladybug is made for you to rise up and put your mind at work. You fight like a strategist, always trying to one up your enemy. I've seen that you always know what Coccinelle wants to do with his Lucky Charms whenever he uses them. You were made to be Ladybug."

Marinette was silent for a bit, thinking it over before looking at Master Fu, "What will happen when we do recover the other Miraculous?"

"I'll take care of Tikki and Dussuu who are the kwamis of the Ladybug and Peacock Miraculous and make sure they are okay. After that I might head to Tibet and try to recover some of the missing books to remove the curse off of Nooroo and Plagg."

"And what can we do for now?"

"Try to stop Coccinelle, protect Chat Noir, and discover who Coccinelle is. Right now you're limited to two Miraculous users but the best you can do is protect your partner. My best guess is that Coccinelle's goal is to make a wish to save his wife since he was trying to do that last year until she stopped him. You might be able to find her more easily than me so you can take a picture of it to remember her face. I hope it helps."

"This is more information than I've had in months, so I'll take what I can," Marinette said and the two lapsed into silence as they both thought.

"You say you're class president, correct?" Master Fu asked and she nodded. He hummed thoughtfully and looked at a gramophone sitting on the table.

"I am old, believe it or not," he chuckled and Marinette smiled. "I don't have anyone to pass this on to, especially after my mistake decades ago. If you don't mind, I wouldn't mind teaching you about this later on. You're a good hero and you have a level head. The world of the Miraculous is a mysterious one and I'm sure you have questions which will be a great way to at least being teaching you the basics of the Miraculous."

"I do have a lot of questions, actually," Marinette chuckled.

"Then ask away," he said and the two began their discussion of the mysterious realm beyond their own.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Very short chapter, I know. But you can figure from the rest of the chapter that Marinette and Fu are talking all about the history of the Miraculous plus a lot of other things which most readers already know. The lore is a little different than the normal; I actually have been following this concept I found on Tumblr from @loosescrewslefty which makes much more sense as it relates to Chinese meditation and theology of lore. The link is right here if you want to learn more about it: https://loosescrewslefty.tumblr.com/post/187839564617/miraculous-ladybug-fixing-the-powers


End file.
